


Gotta Protect the People I Care About

by hamham1o1



Series: Gotta Protect the People I Care About [1]
Category: Video Blogging RPF
Genre: Angst, Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Blood and Violence, Character Death?, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Feels, Happy Ending?, How Do I Tag, I was bored and I like angst and I like MCYT, Major Character Injury, Maybe i don't really know just yet, Possible Fluff, ah who am i kidding, angst is my food, im a sucker for good fluff, ive been reading fanfic and shit on archive for a while now and i still don't know how to tag, possible DreamNot found, they're all homies, who knows - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-29
Updated: 2020-10-26
Packaged: 2021-03-06 22:28:23
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 24
Words: 41,759
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26166400
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/hamham1o1/pseuds/hamham1o1
Summary: He didn’t know why he agreed to this. Well, he knew why, he needed to protect them. George, Sap, Bad, Skeppy, Techno, Tommy, Tubbo, Wilbur…. All of them.Enjoy my shitty summary. I'm not big on posting fanfic i write so please be gentle. First time writing a MCYT fanfic too. I hope you guys like it! It's good food for all you angst lovers out there ;)
Series: Gotta Protect the People I Care About [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1977886
Comments: 628
Kudos: 927





	1. The Duel

**Author's Note:**

> I hope this is somewhat okay. I'm not a confident writer. Takes a lot of confidence to actually post something i write haha. Either way i hope u find this somewhat interesting at least.

Dream didn’t know why he agreed to this. Well, he knew why, he needed to protect them. George, Sap, Bad, Skeppy, Techno, Tommy, Tubbo, Wilbur…. All of them. The snow beneath his feet made a crunching noise as he walked, the cool breeze blew his hood off revealing his blonde hair. He quickly pulled it back on his head and kept walking. He followed the glow from the torches through the forest. His thick navy blue and black cape blew in the wind, as it started snowing. A layer of snow formed on his clothing, his warm breath came out from the side of the mask. The sheath of his sword tapping lightly against his leg. He found it relaxing, the constant, uninterrupted tapping of it kept him focused and calm. The cold nipped at the small amount of skin he was showing. He wasn't wearing his typical green hoodie, he replaced it with a long sleeve black shirt instead. He wore his normal blue jeans, fingerless gloves, and combat boots. A crossbow was secured oh his left hip, arrows were buckled onto his back. He had potions tied to the strap covering his chest. He only had 3, healing, poison, and swiftness. All useful in a fight. His thumb rubbed the hilt of his iron sword. He thought back to his opponent. The man had no apparent name, he called himself slayer. Clay had never heard of him, hell, no one had. He showed up and demanded to fight Dream. He refused after he heard it was going to be hardcore mode. Hardcore mode meant no resets, no respawning, just death. Slayer was quite unhappy with the answer but left. Something happened making him change his answer indefinitely. Everyone told him not to do it. He ignored George’s pleas and Technoblade’s demands. They tried to reason with him, but to no avail, he went through with his choice. That all led up to this moment. He came to a stop once he reached the bottom of the mountain. He studied the side of the rock, his eyes spotting edges he could use to move up the side quicker. Once he had his path mapped out in his mind he took a few steps back to get a running start. His feet pounded against the white floor, he jumped landing on the first ledge. He jumped from each ledge only slipping once, but he caught himself with ease. Still scared him shitless though. Dream reached the top in a matter of minutes. After pulling himself up and onto the mountain he brushed himself off. He heard a scoff.

“Just had to show off didn’t you?” remarked his opponent from behind. He turned to face him, the man’s cold gaze bore into his skin. He was intimidating for sure, his height, his strong build, and his combat skills were nothing to laugh at. He was wearing black pants, combat boots, a long-sleeve black shirt, and oddly enough a white scarf. A sword rested on his hip and a bow on his back. Dream let out a laugh.

“Of course, must suck knowing I’m better than you,” said Dream arrogantly. Slayer frowned, his cold gaze turned to one of hatred. 

“You smug bastard,” spat Slayer. Dream’s eyes widened when the guy got closer. As much as he hated to admit it, he was horrified. This guy definitely got the intimidation tactic down. The thought that he could die today haunted him since he agreed. Much to his relief Slayer stopped, his cold gaze returning. He was happy his mask hid his face, he didn't want his expressions to expose the fear and uncertainty he was feeling.

“Let’s go.” Dream followed him instantly. They walked through the trees, eventually coming to a clearing. The first thing Dream noticed was the concerned stares his friends were giving him. He ignored George when he called out to him. The guy stopped in the center of the area. He turned and faced Dream who also ceased walking. They were 10 feet apart. He heard Slayer clear his throat.

“There are no rules except for one,” said Slayer. He pointed to their audience, “If they interfere, they will DIE.” Dream frowned and glanced at his friends. George was on the edge of his seat, his eyes were filled with fear and what looked to be tears. Dream really hoped he was wrong about that last one. Sapnap had a tight grip on George’s uninjured arm holding him there. Sapnap himself looked tired, he had bags under his eyes and an expression that Dream couldn’t pinpoint. Skeppy and Bad were sitting close together, Bad had his head in his hands, Dream could hear the sniffling, he felt like he just got punched. Skeppy had an arm around him, comforting him, Skeppy avoided looking towards the battlefield, he wore a pained expression. Tommy and Tubbo were next to each other, Tommy was staring directly at Slayer with a gaze that could kill, his arm was wrapped around his injured best friend in a protective manner. Tubbo was hunched and staring at Dream with concern, his bee was on his lap. Techno and Wilbur were the last two on the row. Wilbur was next to Tommy, his hand close to him in case he decided to bolt. His eyes were trained on both Slayer and Dream, Dream could see the well-hidden rage deep within his dark brown eyes, he was unsure who the rage was meant for. His reaction to Dream’s decision was more violent than the others. The bruise on Dream’s cheek ached at the thought. Technoblade sat straight up, arms crossed, his gaze was filled with no emotion. Any sign of emotion was hidden the night before. His blue eyes observed the battlefield, observing Slayer. They finally landed on Dream, a flash of emotion lit up his emotionless gaze only to disappear not even a second later. Dream took a deep breath and refocused himself on Slayer. 

“Okay, but I don’t think any of them would be that reckless,” stated Dream. He knew at least 3 people over there that would interfere. Slayer removed his iron sword from the sheath on his hip and held it out in front of him, also readying his shield. Dream’s shaking hands retrieved his own sword and held it to his side pointing down. Next was his shield. He noticed Slayer's smirk and relaxed face. It pissed him off that Slayer thought so little of him. 

“Ready?” questioned Slayer. Dream closed his eyes and took a deep breath, willing his body to stop shaking. His eyes snapped open and he spoke.

“Ready as I’ll ever be.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Word Count: 1082


	2. Flash Back pt. 1

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Flash back pt.1  
> its just a flashback on how everything started. 
> 
> im sorry its bad.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm so sorry.  
> This is legit awful. I was unsure of were to start the flashback so I just started it the day it happened. I think it may be adding to much to the flashbacks so sorry if that annoys you.  
> hope u enjoyed if its possible.

Dream woke up to the smell of smoke and screaming. He groaned, sitting up in his bed. 

“Why didn’t we all make seperate houses?” he whispered. He threw his legs over the edge of the bed and stood up stretching. After he threw a black hoodie and grabbed his mask,he unlocked his door. The loud screams from where he assumed to be the kitchen or living room echoed through the shared house. He popped his back before making his way down the stairs. Dream stood on the last step with an annoyed face as he watched all his “roommates” run around the room. Tommy was standing on the coffee table with torches in both hands laughing like a maniac. Tubbo was telling him to stop, Tommy was obviously not listening as he continued to wave the burning sticks in the air. George was sitting on the floor screeching because a part of his shirt was on fire, his high pitched screaming overpowered everyone else’s voices. Sapnap was next to Skeppy, both were dying of laughter watching George trying to pat out the fire. Bad was running back and forth from the sink, pouring water onto the burning bookshelf a few feet away from the stairs. ‘ _ Idiots’ _ thought. While it wasn’t that rare to wake up to chaos on some level in this house, this would probably be 3th or 4th on the most stress inducing and chaotic mornings. Dream looked towards the top of the stairs when he heard a creak from the floorboards. His eyes landed on a very annoyed looking Technoblade. The pig hybrid walked swiftly down the stairs stopping next to Dream to take in the scene. He turned to him.

“What the fuck,” said Techno. Dream let out a small laugh and shrugged.

“No idea but-” Dream stopped talking when he saw flaming arrows coming in his direction,Techno and Dream ducked quickly. The arrows hit the wall behind them with a thunk. The room quieted immediately once they realized who Tommy accidentally shot 2 arrows at. Dream huffed and straightened back up, he wasn’t the one who usually yelled at them for their sheighians, that was techno and Wilbur’s job, he was more on the “what they do to make it up to them” side of things but he had his yelling moments too. Dream moved away from techno once he saw how pissed he looked. Techno’s teeth were bared showing off his tusks and his fist were clenched. There were only 3 people in this house you didn’t mess with in the morning and those were Techno, Wilbur, and Dream especially if any of them stayed up late or was having a bad day. Dream was usually the more… sympathetic one, he let a lot slide but he knew when things went too far.. Wilbur and techno were beasts though. 

“Dream, could you go find Wilbur and tell him to come downstairs, we have  _ idiots  _ to deal with.” Dream laughed.

“Sure thing just don’t kill anyone while I’m gone, yeah?” asked Dream.

“I’ll try,” replied Techno.

Dream quickly made his way back upstairs and towards Wilbur’s room. After he peaked inside and saw no sign of him, Dream made his way to the ladder that led to the roof. He heard Techno and Tommy voices begin to fade as he climbed higher on the wooden ladder. He gently pushed open the trapdoor and found Wilbur sitting on the ledge of the roof, reading. An idea popped into his mind and a wicked grin flashed across his face. He finished climbing the ladder and shut the trapdoor as quietly as he could. In one swift movement he was directly behind him. He bent over, his head just to the side of Wilbur’s. 

“Boo,” murmured Dream. Wilbur screamed and turned around quickly. What he didn’t expect to see was the fist coming towards his face and the sudden pain on his cheek. 

“Fuck!” he shouted, landing on the ground. Wilbur looked at him with guilt that quickly turned into annoyance. 

“What the hell Dream?!” screamed Wilbur. Dream moved a hand up to his cheek, and started laughing. A smile formed on the older man’s lips, rolling his eyes he held a hand out to Dream which he graciously accepted. 

“Sorry Just saw you sitting there, couldn’t resist,” remarked Dream. 

“Tch, glad I punched you,” replied Wilbur, resulting in Dream breaking out another laughing fit.. Wilbur stared at the wheezing man with his eyebrows raised before speaking.

“Did you need something or did you just come up here to give me a headache?” questioned Wilbur. Dream sobered up just enough to answer his question.

“Techno wanted me to get you, they’re being idiots again,” responded Dream. He hopped onto the ledge and sat next to him. Wilbur groaned.

“What’d they do this time?” Dream smiled.

“Tommy was running around with torches, Tubbo was trying to tell him to stop, obliviously he didn’t listen. George was on the floor screeching because a part of his shirt was on fire. Sapnap and Skeppy were laughing their asses off while George struggled and Bad tried to put out the fire on the bookshelves.” deadpanned Dream. Wilbur pinched the bridge of his nose. 

“I swear they’re children,” he said, standing up. Dream got off the ledge as well and they began walking towards the hatch. 

Yeah, it all went to shit when Techno came downstairs and Tommy “accidentally” shot flaming arrows at us.” 

“Oh damn, I bet Techno killed them, there’s not even a point in going downstairs.” Dream let out a breathy laugh and the two continued chatting on their way downstairs to deal with the others, unaware of the threat lurking in the shadows getting ready to strike. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's not something I'm that proud of but I still hope you enjoyed it anyway. I hope i didn't let u guys down with this, I promise it'll get better. 
> 
> Hope you enjoyed, plz leave comments or kudos. 
> 
> About that tho, Thank you guys. I mean honestly, I've gotten so many hits and kudos. It really makes me so happy and helps keep me motivated to keep writing :D  
> Just thank you.
> 
> Word Count: 960


	3. Flash Back pt. 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> 2nd part of the flash back

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi, Hi back at it again with another chapter :D
> 
> I actually kinda liked this one haha
> 
> I hope u guys do too!

  
Wilbur and Dream were walking down the hall when they noticed how weirdly quiet it was downstairs. They looked at eachother.  
“Did he actually kill them?” asked Wilbur, slowly approaching the stairs. Dream ran the probability of that in his head, it wasn’t looking to go for the others.  
“Yeah, probably, it hasn’t been this quiet here in forever,” answered Dream. Dream found the thought of all of them walking back here from spawn quite amusing. The two friends reached the stairs and cautiously walked down them. What they saw surprised them. The living room was completely empty, and the front door was unlocked. Dream stepped into the living room, avoiding the puddle of water and looked around for any signs of his friends.  
“Maybe they’re-” started Wilbur but the front door springing open cut him off. It was a very disheveled looking Sapnap. He had a cut on his arm and was holding a cloth to it to stop the bleeding, his hair was messy and his white shirt was covered in dirt and droplets of blood.  
“D-dream,” he stuttered out. Dream immediately made his way to his friend.   
“Sap, what happened? Why are you hurt?” he urgently asked. Sapnap took in a few breaths. Wilbur hurriedly made his way over to the pair.   
“Some guy just fucking, came out of no where and asked to see you,” rasped Sapnap. Dream raised an eyebrow at this.  
“Techno asked who he was and pulled out his sword since the other guy was armed too,” continued Sapnap. Dream motioned to Wilbur to go get the med kit, he nodded and swiftly made his way there.  
“The guy just lunged at him, I was next to him so my arm got cut but he was so quick I couldn’t move.”   
“Is anyone else hurt?” asked Dream.  
“Not that I saw, maybe Techno but I think he managed to block the attack, I’m not completely sure.” Dream nodded.  
“I got it,” said Wilbur as he trotted back over to them.   
“Wilbur address his wound, I’m going to go see whoever the hell this guy is,” snarled Dream. This guy came out of nowhere and attacked his friends for no reason, so of course he was angry, no he was LIVID. Dream grabbed Sapnap’s sword off his hip and took off.  
“Dream wait-” called Wilbur, but he was already gone. Sapnap turned around.  
“We gotta follow him! This guy is insane,” declared Sapnap as he also ran out of the door. Wilbur was going to protest but the thought of his friend, and teammate being hurt made him change his mind. Dream’s feet pounded against the floor as he ran. His green eye’s caught sight of the clearing, his feet skidded across the ground when he came to a stop. He quickly assessed the situation, his eyes mainly focused on Technoblade and his bleeding arm and leg and the guy in all black with a sword dripping blood standing over him.   
“You son of-” started Techno, a punch to his jaw quieting him.  
“That should shut you up, pig,” mocked the man.  
“Leave him alone you bastard!” shouted Tommy, he was struggling to get out of Skeppy and George’s grasp.  
“Tommy stop!” demanded Skeppy. Tubbo and Bad were next to each other watching the fight with concern. Bad had an iron sword grasped loosely in his hand. Dream noticed the glint of the man’s sword as he raised it above Techno with the obvious intent to kill. At that Dream lunged forward, and jumped between the man and his friend, using his sword to thwart the attack. A surprised expression found its way onto the man’s face. Dream used his blade and pressed against the man’s iron sword forcing him backwards, he landed a few feet away. Dream lowered his weapon quickly and held it out protectively in front of Techno.  
“Dream?” asked the pig hybrid.   
“Yeah, it’s me,” was the only response he gave, his full attention still on the man cackling a few feet away from him.   
“Kick his ass Big man!” yelled Tommy, Dream mentally sighed at the nickname. The man stood still now, blade pointed towards the ground.  
“So you finally arrived,” he taunted, swinging his blade carelessly in the air. Dream gripped the handle tighter.  
“Who are you and what the hell do you want?” demanded Dream. The man chuckled.   
“Slayer. That’s my name. And what I want is to fight one of the best players,” said the man as he pointed his sword towards Dream.  
“And that player is you.” Dream’s hidden eyes widened at this, his eyebrows furrowed in confusion.   
“Why me?” he asked Slayer.   
“Because you have talent,” answered Slayer.  
“I’m not that-” The man scoffed in annoyance.   
“You’ve fought 3 people multiple times and won. You fought Technoblade, the PVP champion and almost won. You have beaten the speedrunning world record multiple times, your parkour skills are outmatched along with your bow skills, did I forget anything?” remarked the man. Dream opened his mouth to protest but a grimace found a way onto his lips.  
“I want to beat the best minecraft player and you seem to fit the part very well.”  
“And why should I agree? You came here and injured 2 of my friends and nearly killed one of them.” questioned Dream. The man smirked.  
“Because I know every ounce of your being wants to stab me right now, you want vengeance. I hurt people you cared about.” Dream stayed silent knowing it was true.  
“Rules, when and where,” demanded Dream. A smirk settled on the man’s face.   
“That was almost too easy,” Dream was getting annoyed.   
“Now.” he demanded, “or the whole thing is off.” Slayer’s smirk faded at these words, his cold eyes staring at Dream’s mask.   
“In 2 days, at sunrise.” answered the man. He pointed to a mountain off in the distance.  
“On top of there.” Dream nodded.   
“Anything else?” he asked. The man’s smile returned.   
“One more thing,” he said, “It’s going to be Hardcore Mode.” Dream felt his heart stop for a moment. Hardcore mode. If you die in hardcore mode, you die, no coming back, no exceptions, just death. He heard someone behind him step forward.   
“Dream NO!” screamed George, Dream turned his head towards him. George had a look of fear sown onto his features. He felt himself frown. He caught sight at the rest of his friends' worried faces. He saw Bad step forward.  
“Dream if you do this so help me,” threatened Bad, it was unusual for Bad to get angry but when he did it was scary. Dream glanced behind him at Techno.   
“Don’t you fucking dare,” he whispered between gritted teeth. Dream swallowed and turned back towards Slayer. He looked annoyed at his friend’s words.  
“No,” said Dream. Slayer’s head snapped towards him.  
“WHAT!?” he roared.  
“I said no. I’m not doing it if it’s hardcore mode, I’m not going to risk my life just so you can fight me. That’s idiotic.” remarked Dream. He could see how angry he had made the other man with his choice but he also heard the sighs of relief from all of the people behind him. It was Slayer’s turn to be pissed now. He lunged towards Dream, sword pointing straight at him. Dream’s eyes widened at the man’s speed, he knew he couldn’t dodge it. He heard people calling his name but all their voices jumbled together when he saw the iron coming towards his face. The blade just barely missed his head, slicing his cheek. A small stream of blood ran down his cheek. Dream’s breathing came out in quick gasps and he was shaking slightly. The man was inches from his face.  
“Should’ve agreed.” That was all he said before sheathing his sword and walking the opposite direction. Dream lifted a hand and touched the cut on his cheek. He stared at the bushes Slayer disappeared into. A blue blurred figure was in front of him with their hands on his shoulders but he didn’t see that, he just kept his eyes on the bushes in case he were to pop out again.   
“Dream!” shouted George. Dream’s eyes widened and he looked down. His eyes found the face of a worried looking George.  
“Are you okay?”   
“O-oh yeah sorry, I zoned out,” mumbled Dream. He watched George sigh in relief.   
“That’s good.” Dream nodded and remembered Techno and turned around. Wilbur was sitting next to him checking out his wounds. They didn’t look too bad, just some cuts from the sword. Dream sighed.  
“Thanks for the save Dream,” said Techno. Dream chuckled.  
“No problem.”  
“Where’d the others go?” asked Dream when he noticed everyone but him, George, Wilbur, Skeppy and Techno were there.  
“I told them to go home, start cleaning up the living room,” responded Wilbur.  
“Ah.” Dream looked up at the sky. Clouds covered the sky, blocking out the sun. A drop of water hit his mask, running off the edge and onto his cheek mixing with the crimson blood. A low rumble filled the sky.  
“We should probably head home too,” said George. Dream lowered his head.  
“Yeah, I think we should.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you enjoyed, understand if u didn't :)
> 
> Also,  
> Thank all of you so much for all the kudos and comments. It means so much to me. All the people saying that my writing is good, and that they liked the chapter and can't wait for more, just thank you guys. It helps me write better chapters for your enjoyment!  
> and I hope me responding to everyone's comments isn't annoying haha. tell me if it is.
> 
> Hope you guys liked this chapter, I might be able to write another one a get it out tonight ;) 
> 
> Word Count: 1534
> 
> -Ash :)


	4. Flash Back pt.3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Another one of these haha

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry there's so many flashback chapters! The next one should be the last one and I'm pretty sure it might be the longest chapter. This one is my shortest at only 905 words :(
> 
> I thought I'd make this one happier haha bc my original plan was to just make this one really long and finish the flashbacks but the next one has the angst so I thought I'd be nice :)
> 
> Hope you like it!

It had been a week after Slayer first showed. Everyone was tense, Dream was on guard at all times, making it hard for the others to relax. Dream figured he was overreacting, he knew he was, he just couldn’t shake the feeling that he would return. He remembered the words he whispered.  _ ‘Should’ve agreed’ _ . That’s why Dream was currently in his room staring out the window. He watched the rain drops slide down the glass with great interest. It was at this time he has felt the most relaxed he has this week. Just watching the droplets of water spletter against the glass was weirdly calming to him. He always liked rain, he’d grown accustomed to it growing up. His warm breath fogged up the glass, his sharp eyes flickering to the tree line every now and then. His mask was laying on the window sill next to him, its small black eyes stared at him with weird intensity. A knock on his door alerted him and he picked up his mask, gently placing it on his face just above the mouth.

“Come in,” he called. He heard the door open and then footsteps. George sat down on the edge of his bed.

“Hey Dream,” he greeted. Dream turned to him.

“Heya, whats up?” he asked casually. Dream noticed how George was fidgeting with his hands, he looked nervous. Dream raised his eyebrows in concern.

“Hey are you good?” asked Dream, worry lacing his tone. Him speaking knocked George out of his thoughts.

“Oh yeah, I’m fine,” responded George.

“You sure?” George nodded in response. The 2 sat there in silence until George spoke.

“Yeah, are you doing okay though? I know you’re worried about that guy but it’s been a week. All of us are worried about you even if some of them won’t admit it. It’s not the same without one of us, and that includes you,” said George. Dream suddenly felt guilty, he made his friends worry because he was being paranoid. The thought of the man coming back suddenly seemed less likely. He sighed.

“Yeah, I’m sorry about how I’ve been acting recently. I just can’t shake the thought of him coming back even though it’s highly unlikely. Just BLEH ya know?” Dream offered a small smile. George chuckled. 

“I get it, I’m your best friend, after years with you I get why you act the way you do,” answered George.

“We all understand why, we just think you should give the whole ‘watching 24/7’ thing a break. A few of us have to go to the nether anyway. We were choosing who wants to go tonight.” said George standing up. 

“Might wanna head downstairs to snag a spot, it’d be good for you to get out of the house.” Dream grinned.

“I think I just might do that, who’s already gotten a spot?” Asked Dream, he quickly caught up to George. 

‘It’s Technoblade, Wilbur, Sapnap and,” George let out a laugh, “Tommy.” Dream groaned, making George laugh harder.

“How the hell did he get a spot?” asked Dream who also started laughing.

“He took it from me,” replied George. Dream hummed in response. The two made it into the living room and made their way to the kitchen.

“So is Bad going to Dream's place?” asked Skeppy. He rounded the corner.

“Nope,” answered Dream. Everyone in the kitchen looked towards him. H echuskled nervously.

“Sorry I’ve been acting off guys, just been a little paranoid,” explained Dream. He scratched his neck shyly. Sapnap walked over and slung his arm around his neck.

“Nah you’re fine dude. We get it,” he answered. 

“Yeah, it makes sense,” agreed Tubbo with a smile. Dream let out a laugh. He removed Sapnap’s arm from around his neck and he fell to the floor with a thud. Dream looked down in shock at his friend before covering his mouth with his hand to contain his laughter. 

“Fuck!” yelled Sapnap, a hand clamped over his nose.

“Shit dude, I didn’t think you’d actually fall.” laughed Dream. Bad stood up out of his chair.

“Language!” he shouted. Sapnap stood up.

“I just fell on the ground! I get a free pass to cuse!” argued Sapnap. The two started bickering and Dream stepped towards Techno. 

“So do I get to go?” asked Dream, ignoring the back and fourth of his friends. Techno looked up.

“Don’t see why not,” he answered calmly. 

“So the team is me, Techno, Wilbur, Tommy, and Sapnap?” 

“Yeah, I’d say it was a good group until the little gremlin got to go,” said Wilbur as he pointed to Tommy. Tommy being well, Tommy, didn’t like that. 

“Ey! What the hell!?” shouted Tommy, “I’m a good teammate!” Skeppy snorted.

“You are the most chaotic person I have ever met, not even joking,” stated Skeppy between laughs. Dream held back a laugh. George had a hand over his mouth. The kitchen became full of yelling and laughter. George elbowed him gently, getting his attention. 

“Told you it wasn’t the same without you.” George winked. Dream laughed. Despite how unbelievably unbearable his friends were sometimes, he missed their chaotic nature. Everybody did, Dream even caught a smile on Techno’s face. Dream took a deep breath and pushed the memory of the guy to the back of his mind. He grinned and joined in. His iconic wheeze filling the room after Tommy tackled Skeppy to the floor.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you enjoyed it!
> 
> I just realized Wilbur wasn't in my tags >:0
> 
> I'm gonna start leaving word count hehe
> 
> Word Count: 905


	5. Flash back pt. 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Another one expect this one probably has zero importance to future chapter I just had a lot of fun writing it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry I'm adding so many flash back scenes. I feel like I'm being excessive with them honestly...  
> I'll work on that if I write anymore MCYT fanfic.  
> sorry again  
> Hope u enjoy it tho :)

The group had been in the nether for about 5 hours and the heat was really starting to get to him. His hoodie, black undershirt, jeans and boots weren’t the best for this temperature either. He removed his hood and wiped the sweat off his neck. Everyone there was dying from the heat. Everyone had removed at least a layer of clothing except for Dream.

“Aren’t you hot?” asked Skeppy. Dream looked at his friend. 

“Yeah, but I look good in green and I’m willing to suffer,” answered Dream dryly. He cringed at his raspy voice. He heard Sapnap snort then laugh.

“I don’t why he does it either Skeppy, he’s gonna die of heat stroke one of these days,” laughs Sapnap. Dream lightly punches his shoulder, too tired to put effort into it. 

“I’m surprised he hasn’t already,” added Tommy.

“Oh shut up,” answered Dream, a small smile on his lips. Skeppy, Sapnap, Dream and Tommy had been told by Techno to wait outside the bastion while him and Wilbur went inside. Usually Dream was with them too but Techno and Wilbur decided they wanted an extra person outside because Tommy was there and leaving the other 2 with Tommy wasn’t smart. They were children basically. Dream disagreed at first but once he thought about it he knew they were right. Dream groaned at the overwhelming heat and rested his head on the tree behind him. He had already gone through most of his water since he didn’t plan on finding a bastion which would easily add an extra hour or two on their trip. 

“Dream, catch,” called Sapnap. He tossed a bottle of water at Dream. Dream himself had barely heard Sapnap so he barely had enough time to react when the water came flying at him. He just barley caught it with his free hand.

“Thanks,” said Dream. He pulled the cork out of the bottle and began chugging the cool liquid. He immediately felt the effects of the water as it spilled down his throat, a drop sliding down his chin. He pulled the bottle down and grunted when he saw it was empty. He chucked it into the lava pool under the ledge they were camping on. 

“What is taking them so long?” groaned Tommy. Dream smirked.

“What? Are you regretting your choice to come? Little Tommy can’t handle some heat?” teased Dream. Tommy, on any normal occasion, would have cursed out Dream in a heartbeat but he was exhausted so he went with a simple ‘fuck you’ earning a laugh from Dream and the other two there there. After Dream was done laughing, he stood up on his wobbly legs and stretched the best he could. Out of nowhere he heard an enraged pig snort. A hoglin was charging full speed at him, tusks aiming directly towards his chest. His eyes widened under his mask. 

“DREAM!!” he heard someone scream. Dream’s sluggish movements towards his sword were no match for the animal's speed so he decided to block to attack instead. He quickly pulled the wood and steel object in front of his body in the nick of time. The tusks collided with it pushing him back a few feet. The next thing he saw were 3 figures running towards it and slaying it. It’s corpse fell to the nether rack floor, blood seeping between the cracks. Dream was shaking slightly, he was way too close to the edge of the cliff for comfort. Sure he would’ve respawned if he had actually fallen in but it hurt like hell burning alive. He shakily stood up.

“Thanks for the save guys,” he breathed out. 

“No problem,” replied Sapnap as he returned to his seat on the ground. 

“This heat is seriously messing with me,” admitted Dream. He stumbled back over to his tree and collapsed under it. 

“No shit idiot, if you took off a layer you’d probably be fine.” mocked Tommy. Dream grunted in response. Just then they heard two pairs of fast footsteps. 

“Is that them?” asked Skeppy. He stood up. Dream watched his eyes widen. 

“Well is it?” asked Tommy. Just as he asked Wilbur screamed.

“Fucking RUN!!” Dream jumped up at the outburst and saw both Wilbur and Techno running away from at least a hundred piglins.

“What the fuck!?” yelled Sapnap. Sapnap ran by the dazed Dream and grabbed his arm. Dream jerked forwards at the movement but started running on his own. 

“Shit!” yelled Tommy. The group made it back to their bridge and started running across. Tommy was in front of Dream who was last. Dream turned around and placed netherrack behind them to slow them down. The piglins almost immediately started climbing over it. 

“Let’s go big man!” Dream turned around and saw Tommy waiting for him. The other had already gotten off the bridge. He ran towards Tommy, he was a few feet away when he heard it. The angry cry of a ghast made them freeze for a second. 

“GO!” shouted Dream. Tommy turned but the ghast shot first. The fireball hit the ground under Tommy, shattering the cobblestone. Dream watched the 16 year old begin to fall. He pulled out his already loaded crossbow and shot the ghast’s second fireball back at it, killing it. He dropped his crossbow and dived towards Tommy. Dream’s body collided with the ground knocking the air out of his chest but he had managed to grab the boy's wrist. His eyes were closed as he took in a deep breath. He felt Tommy grip his arm tightly. He couldn’t move and his grip was loosening. The heat was becoming unbearable now, especially when you're holding a dangling 16 year old over a lava pit. He grunted. Dream suddenly felt Tommy’s weight disappear and his eyes shot open thinking he had dropped him. Much to his relief Techno had Tommy next to him and Wilbur was towering over to Dream.

“I got you,” said Wilbur as he helped Dream up. Dream mumbled a quick thank you before stumbling off the bridge. Sapnap and Skeppy were behind them making a better blockade against the piglins. 

“It should last long enough to get to the portal,” informed Skeppy. The group began running again, desperate to get back. Dream’s vision was going in and out until he felt Tommy tap him. He turned his head towards the younger male. 

“Thanks for that. I’m not a big fan of burning alive,” whispered Tommy. Dream smiled at him.

“Just doing what friends do,” he replied with. Tommy rolled his eyes and Dream let out a breathy laugh. 

“It’s over here!” called Techno. He had his sword pointed towards a hole in the ground. Each one of them quickly made their way down the hole. Skeppy blocked up the entrance with cobble. The group stood there for a moment catching their breath. 

“Holy…” breathed out Sapnap. Dream felt like his legs were going to give out, his vision was going dark. He could see everyone’s mouths moving but his ears were ringing and he couldn’t hear anything. He noticed how everyone was looking at him. 

“Are you okay Dream?” asked Techno. He stepped forward and placed his hands on Dream’s shoulders.

“Yeah I’m…” Dream’s voice trailed off as he came crashing to the ground. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> absolutely nothing to do with plot but again I enjoyed writing this. I guess I wrote it to have more interaction with characters. Also, the next chapter will be out in a few minutes and it'll actually have something to do with the plot! Im shocked! 
> 
> I hope you enjoyed reading this! :)
> 
> Thank you all so much for the support! 
> 
> Word Count: 1218


	6. Flash back pt. 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Another one.....
> 
> sorry...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well this was going to be the last one but then I remembered I still had to do their reactions to Dream's decision! :D
> 
> I swear I'm not trying to make this take longer. I'm going to start the chapter as soon as I finish this. 
> 
> Anyway, I hope you like it :3

Dream woke up with a massive headache. His eyelids fluttered open under his mask. He felt a cold breeze move across his skin. He immediately noticed that his green hoodie and under shirt was gone and he was only in a tank top. As long as his mask was still on he didn’t care. He groaned at the pain, alerting his teammates.

“Guys, I think he’s waking up,” said Wilbur. Wilbur stood up and helped him sit up.

“What happened?” asked Dream. He looked around noticing that they were in a forest, a small lake was nearby.

“Well, after you passed out from overheating,” said Techno scowling.

“We dragged you through the portal and Sapnap removed your clothes since we figured you’d be the most comfortable with him doing it.” Dream nodded and scratched the back of his neck.

“Sorry,” Dream chuckled nervously, “Should’ve dressed appropriately.”

“Would’ve been smart,” said Tommy. Dream attempted to stand, almost falling because of his wobbly legs. Wilbur helped him up and he stretched. 

“Here you go, I wouldn't want you to get too cold this time,” joked Sapnap. Sapnap tossed his extra hoodie towards Dream. 

“I’m not even going to ask why you had a second hoodie in your bag,” stated Skeppy. Dream laughed and pulled the black hoodie over his head, avoiding his mask. 

“What can I say? I like hoodies.” said Dream with a grin. He walked over to a tree and sat down. Techno turned to Sapnap.

“What are we eating since you went out to get food?” Sapnap gave Techno a sympathetic smile.

“Sorry, it was the only thing I could find…” mumbled Sapnap. He was trying to hold back a laugh when he pulled out the pork from his bag. Techno started at the raw meat then back at Sapnap who was now giggling. He technoblade stood up and pulled out his sword.

“So you have chosen death?” asked Techno. Sapnap’s face changed, his expression read ‘Oh I fucked up’. Techno was making his way over to him.

“NO! I’M SORRY!” yelled Sapnap as he ran away from Technoblade who was chasing him. Dream wheezed loudly when Sapnap dived behind him. Skeppy and Tommy were laughing as well, even Wilbur was struggling to stay quiet. Dream stood up, still laughing, and put a hand on Techno’s chest.

“S-stop,” stuttered Dream with a smile. Techno snorted and walked back to his seat.

“You got lucky this time  _ Snapmap.” _ mocked Techno sending the group into another fit of hysteria. They calmed down after a few minutes.

“Y'all are rude,” pouted Sapnap.

“You know you love us,” said Dream, slinging an arm around him. Sapnap huffed an annoyance but slung his own arm around Dream’s shoulders. Wilbur looked up.

“We should probably get back before the others start worrying.” said Wilbur. 

“Yeah we probably should,” agreed Skeppy. The group of 6 stood up and gathered their things. Dream reattached his sheath to his belt and looked around for his crossbow only to remember he dropped it when he caught Tommy. He sighed. Once they got all their stuff Techno took the lead with Dream following close behind. They followed the path they made to their home. They had found a ruined portal and decided to just use this instead of making one. They reached the bottom of the hill. Dream smirked.

“Beat you to the top?” challenged Dream. Techno turned and smiled.

“You’re going to lose Mr. heat - stroke.” The two began climbing up the hill. Dream was slightly farther up so he knocked snow off the ledge and it hit Techno square in the face. He laughed and made his way to the top before him.

“Hell Yeah!” he screamed loudly. Techno got up seconds after him. 

“Unfair but good job.” Dream chuckled and turned towards the direction of their house. His eyes widened. The house was burning, smoke was rising from the trees. Techno noticed too.

“What the…?” asked Tommy from behind. Dream stared at the flames. He remembered why he was so worried before he left. Slayer. The 3 friends he left behind were in danger. Without thinking he jumped off the top of the hill. He landed with nothing lowering his health down to 2 hearts. Just as the hearts popped up he saw it. They looked different. They were the hardcore hearts. He stopped in his tracks at the realization. He turned towards his friends on the hill. 

“DON’T JUMP IF YOUR HEALTH IS LOW!!” he desperately screamed. They all looked down at him. He had no idea how it was changed but it was.

“THE MODE HAS BEEN CHANGED TO HARDCORE!!” Techno stepped forwards. 

“OKAY, GO AHEAD WE’LL BE RIGHT THERE!” Dream didn’t even hear the rest of his sentence before he started running. He ran through the trees, branches were scratching his skin, and he nearly tripped. His green eyes landed on the clearing where their house was. The first thing he noticed was the house, it was almost completely on fire. He got closer to the house. 

“GEORGE! BAD! TUBBO!” he desperately screamed. When he heard no answer he started to feel tears in the corners of his eyes. If the game mode really was hardcore and none of them had noticed. Was it hardcore even in the nether? The thought made it hard to breathe. Anyone could’ve died. Tommy could've died in the nether. Technoblade and Wilbur could have to. Hell he could’ve died. Which meant, if his friends were in there, they could die too. He was going to enter the building until he heard a dry cough. His legs moved without thinking and he ran to the other side of the house. What he saw made him want to stab someone. Bad had an unconscious Tubbo wrapped in his arms and next to them was Slayer. Bad had deep cuts on his arms. Tubbo had blood running down his face from the top of his head and he appeared to be bleeding on his side since Bad had a shirt on the wound. His eyes moved to Slayer. He had a tight grip around George’s throat. George himself had a deep, bleeding cut on his right arm and another one on his calf. He was clawing at the man's hands, his short stature putting him at a disadvantage because it made it easier to lift him up. Anger shot through him. He unsheathed his blade and charged at him. He was good at surprise attacks, so running at this guy silently was an easy task. He swung the blade, it dug into the man’s flesh. Slayer let out an anguished but surprised cry, dropping George in the process. Slayer’s eyes caught sight of Dream and he threw himself back a few feet. Slayer laughed loudly. Dream turned around and charged at him, anger fueling his movements. Dream swung his sword recklessly, Slayer dodged easily. He laughed at Dream’s attempts to kill him. Slayer pulled his blade out quickly after Dream had swung. Dream didn’t see him pull out his weapon and didn’t know until he felt a sharp pain in his shoulder. Dream cried out and backed off. 

“You bastard!” snarled Dream, clutching his now bleeding shoulder. Slayer smiled at his rage.

“I told you Dream, you should’ve agreed.” he said before revealing an ender pearl and throwing it.

“NO-” yelled Dream as he dove for him but his hands only felt air. The last of the particles vanished. Dream screamed. He heard a whimper and coughs from behind him. He turned. Dream knelt down in front of George who was clutching his throat and coughing.

“Are you okay George?” asked Dream. He placed a hand on his back. George looked at him. Dream felt his heart break when he saw the tears running down his friend’s face. Dream pulled him into a hug, George clutched onto his hoodie. Dream looked towards the other two.

“Bad? Are you and Tubbo okay?” Bad looked up at Dream.

“U-uh I’m not hurt that badly, but Tubbo got cut on his side and his arm. He also hit his head on the way downstairs.” said Bad, his voice was shaky.

“Anything life threatening?” questioned Dream. Bad shook his head rapidly.

“I don’t think so.” Dream sighed. He pulled George away from him.

“George? Are you okay?” whispered Dream. George still had tears running down his face and he stared at the ground with a blank stare. 

“Goerge?” George looked into Dream’s eyes.

“D-dream, I-” he choked on his words. Dream shushed him. Dream went to pull him into a hug again but George started speaking again.

“I could’ve,” he started, “I could’ve died…” he said quietly. 

“It was h-hardcore,” he rasped out. George put a hand on his mouth. Dream’s heart shattered. 

“I only have a heart and a half…” mumbled George. Dream pulled him into another hug after those words. He was so close to losing his best friend. The thought made him sick. 

“You’re okay, I’ve got you,” whispered Dream, a tear sliding down his cheek. George sobbed into his shoulder. Suddenly Dream heard footsteps. He grabbed his sword and stood up quickly, pulling George up with him. Dream had an arm wrapped around George’s back, keeping him standing. He held his sword with a shaking hand. Much to his relief Tommy popped out of the tree line with a worried expression. Next came Techno, Wilbur, Sapnap and Skeppy. They all looked towards the house not seeing Dream at first. Dream fell to his knees, dropping his sword. The other heard the commotion and turned to see Dream.

“Dream!” yelled Sapnap. He ran towards his best friends. Once he saw the blood seeping through the fabric of Dream’s hoodie, the blood staining George’s blue shirt and George sobbing he also fell to his knees next to them. Next to run over to him were Skeppy and Tommy.

“Where’s Bad?”

“Where’s Tubbo?” Dream normally would have laughed at the fact they asked the same thing at the same time but this was different. 

“Skeppy…” whispered Bad. Skeppy’s wide eyes turned to Bad and he darted towards him. He landed on the grass next to him. Skeppy saw the condition of his best friend and wrapped an arm around his friend since he was still holding Tubbo close to his chest. Dream saw Tommy’s face contort into pure anguish when he saw Tubbo in Bad’s arms. 

“Tubbo!” he screamed as he ran over to him. Dream watched Tommy pull Tubbo from his arms and into a hug. He also watched Tubbo’s eyes flutter open. 

“T-Tommy…? Tommy squeezed him tighter. Dream smiled at the sight. 

“Dream.” said Techno. Dream looked at him. 

“What the hell happened?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sad Gogy makes my heart hurt :(
> 
> A long one indeed. My longest chapter yet actually!
> 
> I know all the flash backs are annoying but please don't start disliking the story because of it. I promise you we'll get back to the main part after the next one. 
> 
> Thank you for reading! Hope you enjoyed!
> 
> Word Count: 1790


	7. Flash back pt. 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> OMG GUYS  
> i finally got to the last flashback! :D  
> took me long enough hahaha
> 
> NEVERMIND THERE MIGHT BE ANOTHER FLASHBACK IF I CAN FIND A WAY TO INPUT IT!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ok guys,
> 
> i'm really sorry for the delay but the manhunt aired at 3 am when i was writing this and i stopped everything to watch it. 
> 
> Totally worth it man. 
> 
> I was screaming "come on dammit" at 3 something am. XD
> 
> Dream is a clutch GOD. 
> 
> Anyway, I hope you enjoy the chapter :)
> 
> (It felt a little disappointing in my opinion, so sorry if u were expecting more)

“WHAT?!” screamed Wilbur. Dream sighed. He knew he was going to get a reaction like that. 

“I’m going through with it and that’s final.” declared Dream. 

“Like hell you are!” argued Techno. Dream let out an annoyed sigh.

“Yeah sorry Dream but you’re being reckless.” said Sapnap. Dream turned to him.

“I’m going to agree with Sapnap for once, you’re just pissed that he attacked them.” said Tommy.

“Oh shut it Tommy, you’re the last one I want to hear that from.” remarked Dream. 

“But he’s right Dream, you’re being stupid,” said Skeppy. Dream rolled his eyes under his mask. He didn’t want to hear any of it. He was dead-set on fighting Slayer, nothing was going to talk him out of it. 

“How am I being stupid!? If I don’t do something he’ll just keep coming back!” yelled Dream slamming his hands on the table. Wilbur stood up.

“Then we’ll do something about it together! You don’t have to do this by yourself you fucking moron!!” argued Wilbur. Dream, who hadn’t slept very much for the past week, was getting real tired of this back and forth. 

“It’s not your decision Wilbur! So back the fuck off!” yelled Dream marching towards him. Wilbur stepped forwards too. Bad got up seeing where this was going. He stepped in the middle of the two.

“Guys calm down. Violence isn’t going to get us anywhere,” reasoned Bad. Dream looked down at him. His eyes glazed over Bad’s bandages, feelings of rage and guilt becoming overwhelming. He scowled. He saw Bad being moved to the side and a fist coming towards his face. The impact made him stumble back a few feet. He heard his mask crack and it falling off his face, landing on the wooden floorboards beneath him. A stream of blood flowed down his lips and off his chin. 

“Wilbur!” yelled George, who stood up and started making his way over to Dream. Dream raised his hand stopping George in his tracks. He knelt down slowly and picked up his mask, gently placing it back on his face. He straightened up. The mask was covering his whole face now obscuring his emotions from his friends. The crack at the bottom and the smile gave off an eerie feeling. 

“Ow.” he snarled. Wilbur started walking towards him, he gripped the front of Dream’s hoodie. 

“Let go,” demanded Dream. Dream jumped and used his legs to push off of Wilbur’s chest, separating him from the older male while knocking the air out of him. Wilbur gasped, he clutched his shirt, regaining his breath. He glared at Dream and started towards him again until Techno stepped in front of him, placing a hand on his chest.

“Don't.” demanded Techno, he glared at Wilbur with cold, threatening eyes. Wilbur reluctantly backed away. The room had gone completely silent after Dream was punched. It was tense, the room was filled with hate, sadness and fear. No one dared to speak. Dream stood tall, his height towering over the sitting people in the room.

“I’m doing this, no matter what anyone says,” declared Dream coldly. George stepped forward.

“Dream, please! You could DIE! Don’t you understand that!?” shouted George. Dream barely heard his words, only focusing on the bandages around his neck and 2 of his limbs. 

“Dream. I’m not asking you, I'm TELLING you. Do not do this.” said Technoblade. Sapnap spoke next.

“Dream, I’ve known you the longest out of anyone here. You’re my best friend, please, PLEASE, don’t do this,” he pleaded desperately. 

“It’s my fault this happened. I let my guard down and left you guys here,” said Dream. The guilt of the situation was becoming too much to bear.

“But it’s not your fault! We are the ones who wanted you to leave in the first place!” argued Tubbo. Dream frowned behind his mask. He looked away from the bandage wrapped around Tubbo’s torso and the one around his head. 

“And I’m the one who agreed,” stated Dream. Tommy grunted in annoyance.

“You’ve always been stubborn. That’s something I always admired about you, but you’re being stupid. This isn’t the time to go off on your own and fight someone you might die too!” remarked Tommy. 

“Think about your decision, Dream, does it sound wise?” asked Bad. Dream stood in silence for a moment.

“I’m not doing this for revenge. I’m doing it to protect all of you. If you don’t see that then that’s not my problem.”

“No one here asked you to do that for us!” yelled George. He walked directly in front of Dream. 

“Please Dream, don’t do this,” he pleaded, a tear running down his face. Dream felt his own tears filling his eyes. 

“I’m sorry George, but I’m not changing my mind.” stated Dream. He placed a hand on George’s cheek, but George pulled away. He heard George hiccup. 

“Dream, I can’t let you do this,” said Techno. Dream turned around. 

“You can’t stop me Techno. It’s my choice, not yours.” said Dream as he walked towards the trap door leading outside. He saw George fall to his knees, crying. Sapnap joined him and pulled him into a hug, he also had tears running down his face. 

“Dream… please…” begged George. Dream felt one of those tears fall down his face. He didn’t reply as he climbed out of the bunker. Dream walked further into the forest. It had been raining for a while now so his clothing was soaked. He was cold but the memories from only a few hours ago plagued his mind. George bleeding and sobbing into his arms. Bad collapsing on the way towards their underground shelter. Tubbo waking up and freaking out, only Tommy being able to calm the boy down. He squeezed his arms tighter, his fingers dug into the top layer of his skin. They were definitely going to leave bruises. He closed his eyes. He was so mad. He was so fucking mad. If he hadn’t left, to go to the Nether none of this would have happened. Slayer was waiting until he let his guard down to strike and he got the perfect opportunity to do so when they were gone for 6 hours. It was his fault. He felt tears form at the corner of his eyes. He hated this, this stupid fucking feeling. He tried to overpower the guilt and sadness with anger but he still felt it deep within him. His friends tried to talk him out of this but he refused to back down. The memories of his friends' faces of disapproval, anger and sadness carved itself into his mind. Wilbur punching him, George’s pleading and Techno’s demands. He turned to a tree and punched it when he felt the tears begin to flow down his cheeks. He reeled his arm back and punched it again, pain shot through his arm but he didn’t care. He punched again and again. When he punched a final time the bark was stained red and the skin on his knuckles were torn, blood ran down his arms as he looked at the damage he did. The sadness and guilt he was feeling broke down every wall he built to stop it. Hot tears rolled down his cheeks as he sobbed. He tore his mask off and threw it at a tree, adding another crack to it. He scrubbed at his face, the blood from his hands mixing with the tears. He fell to his knees. Cries of anguish and agony escaped from his lips. He grasped his hair tightly as the memories replayed in his mind.

_George was clutching the back of Dream’s shirt like his life depended on it. He kept mumbling things Dream couldn’t understand. Dream ignored Technoblade’s question of what happened and focused on helping George. George was still bleeding, the sobbing and rapid breaths made his raw throat sting._

_“D-Dream it h-hurts,” he rasped out. Dream combed his fingers through his hair._

_“I know George, I know,” said Dream, unable to hold back his tears. George gripped his shirt tighter._

_“Please, it h-hurts, make it s-stop,” pleaded George. Dream placed a hand on the back of his head and pulled it closer. George buried his head in the crook of his neck, his tears running down his back._

_“I’m sorry, I’m so sorry, I’m so fucking sorry.” croaked Dream._

  
  


_Bad fell to the ground with a thump and blood seeping out of his wounds. Skeppy fell to the ground and rolled his friend over. Tears started running down his face._

_“BAD!!” screamed Skeppy desperately._

_“WAKE UP! PLEASE!” when Bad didn’t move, Skeppy pulled him into a hug. Everyone heard him mumbling ‘please wake up’ under his breath. He picked Bad up and began sprinting towards the bunker. Droplets of blood followed him._

  
  


_They were sitting outside of the room when they heard an agonized scream. Everyone ran inside Tubbo’s room. He was crawling at the bandage on his arms, he had tears running down his face. Dream stood still not knowing what to do. The group heard footsteps approaching the door and Tommy entered the room. Once he caught sight of his friend he ran towards him. And grabbed his wrists, pulling them away from his bandages. Tubbo cried out at the lack of control._

_“TUBBO!” screamed Tommy. Tubbo’s eyes shot open. Before Tubbo got to say anything, Tommy pulled him into a hug. Tubbo clutched the back of his shirt and sobbed. Dream caught sight of the tears running down Tommy’s cheeks before he left._

  
  


Dream screamed, he screamed until he couldn’t scream anymore. He hated it. He wanted the memories to stop. He wanted everything to go back to normal. Where everyone was happy. He sat there for an hour. Going over everything that had happened in his brain. His tears ceased after a while. He was only sniffling now, the rain continued to soak his clothing making him shiver. He focused on only two thoughts. Protect them, and kill him. He was ashamed of the second one, but he felt so much anger well up inside him every time Slayer popped up in his mind. He stood up, and began walking back towards the underground base. He knew what he had to do. He was going to go through with it and nothing was going to stop him.

Protecting them was all that mattered.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry if it was disappointing since I know quite a few of you guys were looking forward to the reactions. :(
> 
> Hope it was still somewhat enjoyable.
> 
> If you did like it, then I'm glad I was able to make u happy! :)
> 
> Word Count: 1735


	8. Poll??

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I need ya'lls opinions

hiya guys. I saw a comment on chapter 6 or flashback pt. 5 that said i should write alternate endings.

I was wondering if I should? Like different endings to the fight and stuff! 

I personally think it'd be really fun to write but it'd come after I finish the true ending.

I'm imagining the angst ahaha there would be a lot of it hehe

and if you think it might be confusing I can put them in a different work or add parts to this one. 

I just wanted to know if i should do it!

Tell me what you guys think in the comments!

Unrelated note:

Next chapter should be out tomorrow! :D


	9. Flash back pt. 7

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Okay this is the actual last one.  
> I mean it this time I just loved the idea someone in the comments had! I had to input it hehe.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Its 1:31 am so i'm rather tired which means the grammar for this chapter could be really bad. 
> 
> I hope you guys enjoy it hehe
> 
> OH GUYS! HAPPY 1 MILLION FOR TOMMY! POG CHAMP!! He deserves it ☺️❤️

When Dream said nothing could stop him he was almost positive nothing could. He was 99% sure. What he didn’t think of was his friends doing whatever they could to stop him, even if that meant locking him in one of the bunkers cells. Dream sat in the back corner of the cell, arms and legs crossed. He had a headache from whatever object they used to knock him out with. They took his stuff and the cell has stone walls encased in obsidian. And since the game was still in hardcore mode he would kill his fists trying to puch through stone making it impossible to mine obsidian. Basically, he had a very slim chance of getting out. They only left him with a plate and all the food he had on him. He had a lot of food so he wasn’t worried about that. He had a bed but he was too tense and frustrated to sit on it. He sighed in annoyance. No one had actually been down to see him except for Sapnap. Dream tried to get into his head almost immediately so he left. They were probably all staying clear because they knew how manipulative Dream could get when he’s stressed or desperate. His back was starting to hurt so he moved to the bed and laid down. He faced the wall, putting his arm under the pillow and closing his eyes. After a few moments he heard something.

“I think he’s asleep,” whispered Sapnap. He heard footsteps into the room, stopping in front of the metal door. Dream kept his eyes closed and breathing steady so he could fool them. He counted the pairs of feet he heard, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, and 8. He smiled under his mask. They were all here which meant he could try and escape. 

“Should we wake him up?” asked another voice, it sounded like Bad. That made him scowl.

“I don’t even know why we came down here, he already said he wouldn’t change his mind,” said Wilbur. Dream rolled his eyes.

“Maybe he will, you don’t know,” argued George.

“And if he doesn’t he’s staying down here until the date of the duel passes,” stated Technoblade. Dream felt himself getting angry. He didn’t know why they couldn’t just let him make this decision. 

“We should just go kick the shit of this guy together,” said Tommy.

“I second that but Dream doesn’t seem to understand what that means,” remarked Skeppy. They broke out into chatter. While they were whispering, all of their voices combined were rather loud and frankly, VERY annoying. Dream groaned, causing the room to go quiet in an instant. 

“Why are you people so loud,” complained Dream as he stood up quickly. 

“Why are you so stupid,” replied Wilbur. Dream looked towards him and flipped him off. Wilbur sighed and looked away. Dream walked up to the bars and knocked on them with the back of his fist. He managed to hold back his yelp when pain shot through his knuckles. 

“When are you guys letting me out?” asked Dream. Tommy scoffed. 

“Until you decide to not fight him and actually mean it,” said George. Dream sighed in annoyance.

“This shit again? Really?” Bad cleared his throat.

“Language, and yeah. We aren’t letting you go until you agree to not fight him.” 

“I already said nothing would change my mind and I meant it.” Sapnap groned.

“Dream. What you are doing is reckless, way more reckless than usual.” argued Sapnap.

“Sapnap-” started Dream.

“You would kill him.” said George. Dream stopped and looked towards him. George swallowed.

“It’s hardcore. If you were to win, you would have had to kill him. You’d be no better than him. Hurting people to get what they want.” whispered George. Dream stayed silent. He had nothing to say to that. While he wanted to kill Slayer when he first agreed, he thought about it while he was sitting here in the cell. He knew he’d be no better than him. He sighed.

“Of course I know that. I didn’t plan on killing him either way.” said Dream walking back to his bed. He sat on the edge and looked towards his friends.

“I’m not a murderer.”

“But Dream, he IS. He was going to strangle George to death then move onto one of us,” said Bad. Dream was forced to stay silent again. 

“You all know he’s going to come back. And what if this time he actually kills one of you. The part you don't get is that if one of you dies, it’ll be on me for not doing anything.” said Dream. He hated the thought, the guilt from earlier hitting him like a brick. He sighed. 

“He wanted to fight me. Not you guys, ME. He burnt down our house and nearly killed 3 of you. He won’t stop until he gets what he wants.” 

“But Dream. What you don’t get is that YOU could die. You could lose us but we could also lose you.” said Wilbur. 

“You’re our friend, and we aren’t just going to let you get yourself killed,” said Technoblade. Techno stood up and began making his way towards the exit. Dream hopped off the bed and returned to the bars. He gripped onto them tightly. He knew if he left the others would follow as he had the role of one of the leaders. 

“Techno… please…” he asked desperately, bowing his head. Techno stopped and looked back towards the cell. He sighed. 

“I’m sorry Dream,” was all he said. Dream punched the stone wall next to him as hard as he could, the action sent an agonizing wave of pain up his arm. 

“Fuck!” he screamed, clutching his wrist. Blood was beginning to seep through the bandages his friend’s had applied when they knocked him out. Dream looked down at the ground. 

“Dream! Please calm down! You’re going to hurt yourself,” said George. He reached through the bars to place a hand on his shoulder but Dream moved away. He sniffed. 

“If you aren’t hear to listen to what I have to say, then get the fuck out.” spat Dream. The people in the room cowarded away because of his menacing tone but no one moved. He sniffed again as he felt tears come to his eyes.

“Dammit leave!!” he screamed. 

“Dre-” started Sapnap but Dream was pissed. He felt like literal shit and he was annoyed as hell. Dream turned to his friend.

“Dream what? What are you going to say Sapnap? To tell me to calm down? To tell me to think about my decision? Well guess what, I made my decision the moment I saw my best friend being held up by his throat, clawing at Slayer’s hands just so he could breathe and when he begged me to make the pain stop when all I could think about was how he was in pain because of me. I made the decision when I saw Bad fall to the ground and Skeppy hugging him, BEGGING him to wake up. I made the decision when I saw Tubbo with eyes filled with so much fear and anguish as he clawed at his bandages. And when Tommy came into the room and calmed him down, how they clung to each other, like if they didn’t the other would disappear. It was those moments where I decided I would fight him to protect the ones I love.” said Dream, his fist were clenched and he had unseen tears running down his cheeks. The room was quiet. They all stared at him with faces of pity, and guilt. 

“Now get out. All of you.” he demanded softly. His voice was choppy because of the tears. He saw George reach for him before pulling his hand back and turning away. They all disappeared from his vision except for one. He turned his head towards the final person there. Toomy stood there, staring at him. 

“What do you want Tommy?” asked Dream. Tommy didn’t answer but looked down at the floor. 

“Sorry this couldn’t have gone differently,” was all he said before turning to follow the rest. Dream watched him leave before removing his mask and wiping his tears away. He sighed and closed his eyes, burying his face into his hands. He still planned on getting out, and some stupid metal bars weren’t going to stop him. Dream lifted his head and looked around the cell. It was completely barren except for the chest containing his food and the plate sitting on top of it. An idea struck him and he looked at the bed he was sitting on. He knelt down in front of it, he smiled when he saw the screw that was keeping to wood together. He stood and turned the bed over quietly not wanting to alert his friends. He grabbed the plate and shoved one side of it into the back of the screw. He twisted it as quickly as he could and after a few twists he managed to remove the screw completely. 

“Yes, yes, yes,” he said to himself. Dream stood up and made his way over to the metal bars keeping him in the cell. He grabbed the padlock and turned it to its side. He smashed the plate against the wall leaving him with a sharp piece of glass. Dream chuckled and began scraping the paint of the side of the item revealing the bolts keeping the mechanism locked. Despite the pain he was going through he placed the tip of the screw onto one of the bolts and bagan twisting it so it would imbed itself in the bolt. After a few minutes of pain he managed to get it deep enough into the bolt. Dream took a deep breath and pulled as heard as he could, removing the screw with the bolt attached to the end. He smiled triamputhly and repeated the process a few more times. Much to his relief the lock popped open and fell to the ground with a small thud. He lifted up his hand and observed his now cut fingers. He sighed, pulling his sleeve over the wounds. He peered down the hallway cautiously before opening the door. He looked around the area outside his cell and spotted a chest with his bag next to it so he assumed it was his stuff. Dream pulled all his stuff out and put it back into his bag and slung it over his shoulder. He spotted a hooded blue and black cape. He shoved it into his bag. He spotted a pen and paper on the desk. He walked over to it and wrote a note.

_ Sorry I broke the lock guys. Only idea that actually worked. I’m sorry for everything that happened. If I just hadn’t left. That doesn’t matter now. I’m going to make it right. I’m going to fix everything. It’s going to be okay. The fight will be on the mountain he said it would be on, at sunrise. Come if you want. I love you all. _

_ -Dream :)  _

Dream placed the pen on the table and took the note to the bed. He laid it down. Suddenly he heard footsteps, and a lot of them. Panic shot through him and he darted toward the window. He unlocked it and scrambled out. Dream laid on his chest and peaked into the room. His friends entered the room and made their way towards his cell. Tommy was the only one who wasn’t there. George was first to make it to the cell.

“Dream-” he started but stopped when he saw the lock on the floor and an empty cell. 

“Oh shit,” said Sapnap who was standing next to him.

“What the fuck.” groaned Techno. Dream smiled at all of their annoyed and shocked faces. 

“There’s a note,” pointed out Skeppy. Wilbur stepped forwards and picked up the piece of paper. After he read it he turned around and pressed it into Techno’s chest and left the room. Techno read it and sighed in annoyance. 

“There’s no way we’ll be able to find him,” admitted Techno. Dream sighed, grateful they weren’t going to look for him. He stood up and turned. He stopped dead in his tracks when he saw Tommy standing a few feet away from him. The two stared at each other for a moment.

“Tommy. Please.” begged Dream. He couldn’t be found out or he’d be back in that cell in a matter of minutes. Tommy sighed. To his surprise Tommy moved to the side. 

“Go before they see you,” said Tommy. Dream gawked at him.

“What? You’re just letting me leave?” he asked. Tommy crossed his arms. 

“I’m not going to be able to stop you and well… I get how you feel. When I saw Tubbo like that, I couldn’t even handle myself. The thought that my best friend could’ve died killed me. I wanted nothing more than to beat the shit out of the guy but I know I can’t.” said Tommy. He turned to Dream.

“But you can. You’re easily one of the best players. I think your decision is still stupid as fuck but… I understand why you did it so I’m not going to stop you. You can do it Dream.” Tommy looked at Dream and nodded. Dream smiled at him and began walking towards him. He stopped next to him and placed a hand on his shoulder.

“I’ll win Tommy. You can count on it.” he said before disappearing into the woods. Dream ran for a few minutes before finding a cave and setting up a small camp. He placed a few torches to keep mobs away. He went to his bag, pulled out his cape and pulled it over his shoulders. He clipped the front securing it. Dream sighed and sunk to the floor leaning his back against the stone wall behind him. He pulled his knees to his chest and rested his chin on them. He thought back to what Tommy said as he watched the sun go down.Dream removed his cracked mask and sat it next to him. He closed his eyes letting the cool breeze blow on his exposed face.

“I can do it. I will do it.” he said to himself. 

“No matter what.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm so fucking tired holy shit-
> 
> Anyway I hope u guys enjoyed this!
> 
> Tell me if u guys spot any grammar mistakes. 
> 
> Word Count: 2397 (Longest chapter WOOOO0


	10. Duel pt.2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Back to the Duel.
> 
> I'm sorry this is so bad.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Guys I'm so sorry this is so late. I got caught up with school work and then when I actually had time to write I discovered that I'm not good at writing combat so I lost motivation for a good while. BUT I finished it today because I had the sudden urge to write haha. Basically I missed writing so much I couldn't get anything else done hahaha. 
> 
> I'm going to be completely honest. I hate this. I do not think I'm good at writing combat at all and there's a few sections that may be a little confusing because I had trouble writing them. I'm really sorry if this chapter was a let down especially since I got it out so late.  
> I hope you still find it somewhat enjoyable.

“Ready as I’ll ever be.” said Dream. As soon as those words left his mouth Slayer was in front of him, blade coming towards his chest. Dream pulled his shield up just barely blocking the attack in time. The impact of the hit sent him flying back a few feet. He barely had enough time to recover from the blow before Slayer was in front of him again. This time Dream pulled his own blade out and swung it swiftly in front of him. Slayer jumped back avoiding the iron sword but Dream lunged towards him, crossbow out. Slayer’s eyes widened at the sudden change of weapon and was unable to block the arrow. It embedded itself deep in his shoulder. Slayer chuckled darkly. 

“You’re fast,” said Slayer. Dream smirked. Slayer charged at Dream again. Dream got ready to block his attack but he swiftly jumped over Dream landed behind him. 

“But I’m faster.” Dream turned his head, a surprised expression on his face, that quickly changed into one of fear when he saw the blade getting closer and closer to his torso. Dream knew he wouldn’t be able to block or avoid the attack before it hit so he moved himself to the side only letting the blade graze him instead of impaling him. Dream jumped backwards putting distance between him and Slayer. He let out a shaky breath.

“What? Scared?” mocked Slayer. Dream growled at him. 

“You got this Big Man!” yelled Tommy. Dream’s head turned towards the 16 year old who was giving him a thumbs up. Dream smiled under his mask remembering what he said to Tommy the night before. He looked back towards Slayer who was staring at Tommy with pure hate. Dream smirked and darted towards his distracted opponent. Slayer noticed and quickly pulled out his crossbow and fired. Dream grabbed a fallen branch and shoved it into the ground and used it to push himself off the ground and into the air. Dream pulled out his potion of poison midair and threw it at him. Slayer attempted to block but the liquid still touched his skin sending him into a state of pain as his hearts were being drained. Slayer pulled out cooked steak and bit into the juicy meat, his hearts slowly coming back. Dream landed a few feet away.

“This isn’t nearly as fun as I thought it’d be.” said Dream smugly. He knew that angering him wasn’t the best idea but if he was anything like Dream, angering him would make him careless giving Dream an advantage. Slayer huffed. 

“I’m just going easy one you, just a little warm up I suppose,” responded Slayer. Dream chuckled.

“You need to warm up? Pathetic.”

“You’re going to regret that.” said Slayer darkly. Dream’s eyes widened and he turned around trying to get as far away from him as possible. Dream felt a hand wrap around the back of his throat and the next thing he felt was his body slam into the bark of a tree. 

-9 hearts-

He let out a gasp at the sudden, unexpected pain. He pushed himself up, his vision was blurry as he searched the area for Slayer. He heard breathing next to him and he turned, bringing up his shield quickly blocking the sword. He pulled out his crossbow and fired it, the arrow hit Slayer’s other shoulder. Slayer let out a yelp and grabbed his shoulder tightly. Dream took this opportunity to swing his sword at his opponent, the blade hit his left arm. Blood dripped from the tip of Dream’s sword when he removed it. Slayer grunted in pain. Dream took a deep breath. He lunged towards Slayer again, he raised his sword and Slayer pulled up his shield to defend himself, Dream kicked Slayer’s shield, sending him into the tree behind him. Slayer pulled out his bow and shot an arrow missing Dream entirely. Dream held the sword in front of Slayer. Dream was about to speak until Slayer disappeared in front of him. Slayer had shot his bow but Dream was unaware that the arrow he used had an ender pearl attached to it.

“What-” he turned around but a hand found its way around his neck and he was slammed to the ground. The impact made him drop his sword. All the air left his body and the hand around his neck prevented any from getting in. He let out a strangled noise. 

“DREAM!” he heard George yell. He glanced to the side quickly. Sapnap had his arms wrapped around his torso. 

“Dammit George-” cursed Sapnap. Slayer was standing over him back bent. Dream used this to his advantage and pulled his legs close to his torso. Dream used all his strength and kicked Slayer’s stomach. A grunt came from Slayer and his hand left Dream’s throat. Dream coughed and sucked in large breaths. His hood fell off when he stood. Slayer straightened back up. 

“You’re annoying,” said Slayer. Dream chuckled. 

“You should’ve known that before you started fighting me,” rasped Dream calmly. He wasn’t calm at all. Dream glanced worriedly at his friends. Slayer noticed how his head barely turned to the right but he knew what Dream was looking at. 

“It must hurt seeing them like that,” said Slayer. Dream perked up at the words. 

“Shut it.” he demanded. Slayer grinned.

“If only I had gotten to kill the short one with the glasses, bet this would’ve been way harder.” he taunted. Dream growled. 

“Shut the fuck up,” snarled Dream. Something in Dream’s mind told him that he was just trying to get under his skin but Dream ignored it, pulling his sword up. He lunged towards Slayer, Slayer smirked, dodging the attack easily. Dream swung his blade again, this time he got closer to Slayer almost grazing the larger man’s side. Slayer smiled wildly. Dream felt a hand on his wrist locking it in place and the hand on his back. Dream knew what he was going to do right before he did it. Slayer’s knee met the front of Dream’s shoulder, the hand on Dream back and the one on his wrist prevented Dream from moving back to lessen the blow. Dream heard a crack. He let out a strangled cry. He kicked at Slayer’s leg and backed away. Dream gripped his now dislocated shoulder. He felt tears come to his eyes when the pain settled in.

-7 hearts-

“Shit…” he mumbled. Normal Minecraft didn’t allow such minor and specific injuries. But hardcore did. 

“You’re a lot funner when you're angry.”

He heard a yell and turned towards his friend’s, George was still fighting to get out of Sapnap’s grasp. Next to him WIlbur and Tommy were arguing. Techno was between the two and a hand was wrapped around Tommy’s arm. He couldn’t hear what they were saying but it was clear Tommy wanted to intervene along with George. Slayer licked his lips.

“Maybe messing with one of them will piss you off…” taunted Slayer. Dream’s eyes widened at the words. 

“You can’t do that!” yelled Dream. He chuckled.

“I said there were no rules didn’t I?” Dream turned to his friends until he felt something grab his dislocated arm.   
“AGH!” he screamed when he was pulled backwards and thrown towards a wall of rock. He hit the wall harder than he thought he would. He sank to the ground clutching his arm tightly. Slayer walked towards him grinning.

“You son of- '' started Dream. Slayer kicked him in the face, his mask nearly falling off. 

-5 1/2 hearts-

Dream coughed and quickly scampered away from him. He stood up and began running. 

“Where do you think you’re going!?” questioned Slayer as he laughed. Slayer was fast, but Dream wasn’t stupid. Despite the amount of pain he was in he needed to get rid of slayer even if it was only for a few minutes. He just needed to be able to heal. Dream saw the edge of the mountain get closer and closer. He ran even faster at the sight of it. He could hear Slayer’s laughs from behind him. Dream pulled out his blade with his left hand and gripped it tightly. He could do this. Dream was only a few feet away from the edge now. He took a deep breath and jumped off the edge. Before he fell he shoved his blade as hard as he could into the rock. It embedded itself into the rock, the hilt pointing up towards the sky. He gripped the sword’s handle with both of his hands, pure agony shot through his arm but the adrenaline numbed it. He swung his body to the side in midair, Slayer never slowed down so when he stopped right on the edge of the cliff, Dream used his legs to kick Slayer’s back sending him off the cliff. As soon as Dream hit him off, his hands releashed the blade’s handle, the extra momentum he had from the swing sending him flying. His body landed with a thud a few feet away. He landed on his dislocated shoulder. Dream screamed. His breathing was rapid, taking in small gulps of air and releasing them seconds later. Dream was thankful he had his cape shielding him from the snow. Dream forced himself up despite every bone in his body groaning in protest. He limped back over to the open field. Dream’s vision was blurry. He spotted his bag not far from his comrades. Dream attempted to walk again but the pain coursing through his body said no. He groaned and pulled out an ender pearl.

“What a waste…” he said to no one as he threw it as far as he could. The world went black for a few seconds before he reappeared a few feet from his bag. He groaned loudly. He nearly fell over when the ender pearl damage kicked in. 

-3 hearts- 

Wilbur rushed to his side catching him. When he did he grabbed Dream’s right arm making the pain already there increase. 

“AGH! FUCK!” cursed Dream as he pulled his arm away. Wilbur backed up at his outburst. Dream glanced at him with guilt.

“Sorry Wil, my shoulder isn’t doing too great right now…” said Dream. 

“It’s fine Dream,” responded Wilbur. Dream stood still clutching his arm. He didn’t even notice when Tubbo and Tommy trotted over. Tubbo grabbed his bag pulling out some cooked steak. 

“Here,” he said, handing him the streak. Dream looked at it and grabbed it gently with his left hand. He took a few bites, the effects of his injuries began to dull as his hearts restored. 

-10 hearts- 

He sighed in relief at the normal amount of hearts. George stepped in front of him.

“How low were you? Are you okay!?” he asked frantically. Dream only had 3 hearts, a dislocated shoulder, definite bruising on his torso and face, most likely a concussion and a bleeding cut on his side but there was no way in hell he was going to say that. 

“6 hearts,” he lied. George didn’t look satisfied with the answer but he shook his head.

“Why are you guys over here?” he asked. 

“Well, we didn’t see the guy and you looked like you were about to collapse, so we came over here to help your arrogant ass,” said Wilbur.

“With Techno’s permission of course,” laughed Tubbo nervously. Tommy walked over to him.

“That was really fucking smart,” he said motioning to his blade still in the side of the cliff. Dream smiled and shrugged, wincing when his shoulder was moved. He didn’t know how far the cliff was but he did know that the drop wasn’t far enough to kill someone if they weren’t below 7 or 8 hearts. Slayer most definitely had 7 or 8 hearts. Even though it bought him some time he knew he only had a minute or 2 before he showed up again. 

“You guys need to get away from me before he-” started Dream until something appeared next to him out of thin air. His friend’s faces contorted into ones of pure fear. Slayer was right next to him. Dream felt his warm breath on his neck. 

“Oh Dream~”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> See? It's not good. I cant write combat man. Its fucking sucks.  
> I was vibing to the background music from the Dream SMP animation while writing this tho. Helped a little bit. :3  
> Again, i'm sorry if you weren't a big fan of this, hopefully the next one will be better. 
> 
> Word Count: 2038


	11. Duel pt.3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Next part of the fight

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys sorry this was late! It was my last day of school before break yesterday so I didn't get much time to write haha.
> 
> I already have the next one written too i'm jjst doing some final edits and i might add more since its a little short. 
> 
> It should be out later tonight!
> 
> Hope u guys enjoy!

Dream’s head snapped to the side. He was going to tell his friend’s to go but never got the chance before he was punched in the gut. He let out a sharp gasp and he stumbled back, tripping on the edge of his cape. 

-9 hearts- 

  
“Dream!” yelled George. Dream let out a cough and sat up. Agony coursed through his arm. He felt tears come to his eyes again. George rushed towards him but one of Slayer’s hands grabbed the back of his hoodie. He yanked him back. George let out a cry and attempted to remove the hand from his hoodie. Slayer chuckled. 

“I said if they interfered they’d die,” said Slayer. Dream stood up on wobbly legs.

“Put him down,” he demanded. Slayer was holding George up by the back up his hoodie, George struggled against his grip. 

“How about no. Rules are rules Dream.” Dream snarled. His arm was a problem, one that he had a very vague idea how to fix. He turned towards the other 3 there. Wilbur was standing in front of Tommy and Tubbo, a look of hate on his face. 

“Wilbur, get them out of here, I’ll get George.” Wilbur turned to argue.

“NO ARGUING.” demanded Dream with a threatening tone. Wilbur flinched but nodded and he grabbed the other 2 and began running back to the others. Before they were gone Wilbur stopped and removed the iron sword from his hip and tossed it towards Dream.

“You better give that back after this,” said Wilbur. Dream caught the item.

“Of course,” he responded. Wilbur smiled and nodded turning around, he ran back to the others.

His arm was a problem, one that he had a very vague idea how to fix. Dream dashed towards him.

“Ho, Ho? Back for another beating?” asked Slayer, arrogance dripping from his voice. Dream continued running at full speed. Slayer pulled back his fist, getting ready to punch Dream. Once Dream got close enough he dodged Slayer’s oncoming fist and rammed into his chest. Slayer gasped at the sudden lack of air in his chest and he fell to the ground dropping George. Dream heard the bone pop. Pain sheared through his entire body when he hit the ground a few feet from Slayer.

-7 hearts-

He screamed, digging his finger into the dirt and snow under him. He clutched the shoulder and noticed how the pain was already dulling. He managed to put the bone back in the socket. 

“DREAM!” yelled George. He stumbled over to his friends and fell to his knees next to him. 

“Dream?” he asked. Dream grunted in response. Dream noticed Slayer recovering from his assault and he sat up. He grabbed George’s arm and pulled him to his feet. 

“George, go NOW.” he demanded. George looked at him with fear and worry in his eyes. Suddenly he frowned at Dream.

“No!” said George. Dream stood still for a second, his brain not comprehending what he said. 

“What!?” he roared. Slayer was about to stand up.

“I said no-” started George but Dream grabbed his arm and began running towards his friends. 

“Dream- you can’t do this alone!” argued George who was being dragged by Dream. Dream ignored him and made it to his friends.

‘Dream-” started Sapnap. But Dream shoved George into his arms.

“Please keep him here. I don’t want to lose anyone,” pleaded Dream. Sapnap started at him before nodding. Dream turned around to see Slayer standing up, sword in hand. 

“Techno.” said Dream. 

“Yes?” asked Techno. Dream turned to him. 

“Don’t let anyone do anything stupid. Keep an eye on them. Please.” Techno could hear the desperation in his voice.   
“They won’t go anywhere.” said Techno sternly. The pig hybrid eyed his companions, they all sunk back at his gaze. Bad spoke up for the first time.

“Dream.” he said, voice raspy from crying. Dream turned to look at him.

“You don’t do anything stupid either, okay muffinhead?” said Bad. Dream smiled.

“Wouldn’t  _ dream _ of it,” he joked. Bad smiled at him. Dream heard a scoff from behind.

“That was awful,” said George from behind. Dream chuckled. 

“I’ll have more when I get back,” said Dream with a smile. He ran away from his friends back towards the center of the field. On the way there he scarfed down a chicken regenerating his health. Slayer coughed. 

“You have some nerve…” threatened Slayer. Dream smirked.

“That wasn’t a rule. There were no rules, remember?” said Dream sarcastically. Slayer huffed. Dream pulled out Wilbur’s blade, holding it in front of him. 

“They interfered.” spat Slayer. Dream shook his head and shrugged.

“No, they helped me. They never touched you or tried too, so shut the fuck up you sorry excuse of a person.” said Dream with a smile. He grinned seeing Slayer’s eyes filled with hate. Slayer charged towards him. Dream dodged his attack easily. He had his arm back which meant he also had full mobility. While it still hurt to move the pain had decreased significantly. Slayer turned and attempted to kick Dream, who blocked it with ease. Slayer tried to pull a “sweep the leg” but Dream jumped and kicked Slayer in the jaw. 

“Fuck!” cursed Slayer backing up a few feet. He wiped the blood coming from his now broken nose. Dream landed back on the ground. 

“Something wrong?” asked Dream smugly. Slayer grabbed his nose and snapped it into place. Dream cringed. Slayer charged at him again. The two went back and forth throwing fists and swinging their blades. Dream had the upper hand as they moved along the field. He was quick and agile. He had good combat skills and was very good with a bow. Slayer was also quick but his larger build hindered his agility. While he wasn’t the best with a bow his sword fighting skills were almost flawless. Dream clutched his arm when Slayer’s iron sword cut open the skin.

-8 hearts-

They were far away from their audience now. Dream dodged another blow and attempted to attack him back, but his blade only cut through the air. He was panting and so was Slayer. After Slayer’s last attack he stepped back. 

“You’re good,” rasped Slayer. Dream wiped the sweat from his neck.

“Didn’t you already know that?” said Dream in between breaths. Slayer chuckled. 

“You see Dream. I’m angry about something.” Dream raised an eyebrow. 

“And what’s that?” asked Dream.

“Your friends are such a…  **pain** .” admitted Slayer. 

“Your point?” asked Dream. Slayer smirked.

“Well you see Dream, they interfered. They helped you heal. That’s an interference to me. But somehow they’re still alive.” said Slayer darkly. 

“Doesn’t matter now. We’re pretty far away thanks to you.” Slayer chuckled. 

“Why would I have put so much distance between you and your friends? Think about it for a moment.” Dream furrowed his eyebrows. Then the realization hit him when Slayer pulled out an ender pearl. Slayer turned around and aimed towards the direction his friend were in. 

“NO YOU SON OF-” screamed Dream. Slayer turned back towards Dream and punched him in the jaw. Dream didn’t expect the hit so he wasn’t prepared for it. His body hit a tree and he let out a sharp gasp. 

-7 hearts-

“Wow. That was easy. Your friend’s really are your greatest weakness aren’t they? All it took was a little lying and I’ve gotten the upper hand again.” Slayer laughed and walked towards Dream. Dream watched Slayer pull something out from behind his back, it was a potion.

“You see Dream, I’ve fought a lot of people and I’ve won easily. I thought you’d be different but I guess I was wrong.” said Slayer as he pulled the cork out of the bottle. Dream watched in horror as he swallowed the dark red liquid in the bottle. It was a strength potion. Dream stood but was thrown against another tree almost instantly.

-5 hearts-

Dream hit the tree a lot harder than before. The air was knocked out of him for a few seconds. He sputtered. Dream watched Slayer through blurry vision. Slayer dropped all of his weapons and his shield. His usually black, cold eyes were dark red.

“Let’s have some fun shall we?” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope it wasn't that bad haha
> 
> I gave this one a little fluff in the middle since the next on is kinda.... brutal if im being honest. ;-;
> 
> A lot of y'all seem to be sensitive when Dream is hurt so sorry :(
> 
> Hope u guys enjoyed this one! :)))
> 
> Next one will be out in a few hours!
> 
> Word Count: 1375


	12. Duel pt. 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I'm sorry.......

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Welp.
> 
> This one's pretty brutal
> 
> Slayer is a bitch and this hurt to write
> 
> I'm sorry in advance for your tears
> 
> please don't hate me

Dream glanced nervously at his health. He only had six hearts. Two or three major hits would be enough to kill him. Dream knew he had to run so he tried. He heard Slayer pull out another potion and drink it. The next thing he knew was Slayer in front of him. Dream skidded to a stop. A fist came towards his face, the force of the impact sent him to the ground, his mask flew off, cracking and snapping in half when it hit the ground. He was on his hands and knees spitting out blood.

-5 hearts-

The next blow was to his chest. He cried out in pain when he heard a snap. He clutched his chest and fell completely to the ground, landing on his side.

-3 hearts-

He coughed up blood, staining the snow around him. Slayer chuckled and reached into his pocket pulling out meat. He threw it to the ground in front of Dream who was shaking in pain. Dream’s now revealed eyes looked at the meat.

“Eat it. It’s no fun when they die too fast,” said Slayer darkly. Dream looked at him with wide eyes. He didn’t want to eat it. He just wanted to do nothing hopefully stalling long enough for the strength potion and speed to wear off. Slayer growled when Dream made no attempt to move. He lifted his foot and slammed it onto his ribs. Dream screamed. He heard at least 2 more cracks.

-2 hearts-

Tears filled his eyes. He had never experienced such precise pain before and it was agonizing. The strength potion did so much damage because of how strong the opponents attacks became. He wheezed. A hand grabbed his hair and lifted him up. His scalp felt like it was on fire. He clawed the man’s fingers with his spare hand.

“Let g-go..,” he demanded weakly. He watched the man rip some of the chicken off of the bone. The next thing he felt was Slayer shoving the meat in his mouth. He jerked his head back and attempted to spit out the food but Slayer had a tight grip on his jaw

“I said EAT.” spat Slayer. He let go of Dream’s hair, his head hit the ground with a small thud. Dream reached over to the food and slowly began eating it. He only got to 8 hearts when Slayer kicked him in the side sending pain through his body once more. 

-6 hearts-

He coughed up blood, it splattered on the snow next to his face. His vision was blurry. It hurt to breathe. Hell, it hurt to move. Dream attempted to stand up but another fist made contact with his face and he fell back to the ground.

-4 hearts-

A stream of blood flowed out of his nostril. He took in a deep, painful breath. He got kicked in the side again, another scream erupted from him. Slayer moved the meat closer to him, Dream was forced to eat and then repeat. Slayer continued to beat Dream with nothing but his fist and made him heal for the next 15 minutes. Dream learned pretty early that Slayer had a lot of strength potions as he drank a new one every time the old one wore off. Dream had tried to fight back a few times, even being successful twice, but he never got far away from his opponent. Dream had tears running down his face from the pain and frustration. Slayer was mocking him by only using his fist to win. He couldn’t endure this much longer, both of them knew it. Slayer was basically torturing him and in hardcore, healing was different. You could heal all you wanted but it barely healed the injuries it only gave you health. Dream glanced at his health through blurry eyes. 

-2 hearts-

“Beg.” said Slayer as he watched Dream swallow the meat slowly, regaining all of his hearts. Dream looked up.

“W-what?” he asked quietly. Slayer knelt down and grabbed Dream’s jaw forcing him to look up.

“I said BEG.” he repeated. Dream glared at him and spit on his face. Slayer cringed and wiped the blood and spit off of his face.

“Fuck you,” spat Dream. Slayer glared at him and then grabbed Dream by the throat and slammed him into the nearest tree. Dream coughed and cried out in pain. 

-7 hearts-

Slayer squeezed not letting Dream take in any air. Slayer got close to Dream’s face.

“BEG.” he demanded once more. Dream glared at him the best he could while struggling. 

“NO,” said Dream. Slayer pulled him forward and then slammed him back into the tree. Dream tried to scream but nothing came out. 

-4 hearts- 

“BEG!” yelled Slayer. Dream’s vision was being filled with black spots but he still answered.

N-no,” he rasped out. Slayer threw him to the ground. 

-3 hearts-

Despite the fact that Slayer was killing him Dream refused, REFUSED to give him the satisfaction of begging him to stop. Dream let out a strangled cry when he saw Slayer raise his foot again. The hit never came. Slayer sighed in annoyance and put his foot back on the ground. 

“Tch, this is no fucking fun…” mumbled Slayer. He looked down at Dream with eyes full of malice. He rolled Dream over with foot and took any healing item off of him. Dream cried out when he was laying on his back, the position made everything inside him that Slayer had fucked up shift. Slayer shoved the items into his inventory and stood up. Slayer observed his opponent on the ground and smiled at his work. Dream was shaking, tears streamed down his face mixing with the blood flowing from his nose. His cheek was bruised and he was absolutely sure he had a concussion. He knelt down again and lifted up Dream’s shirt revealing the dark purple and blue bruises littering his chest. He poked one, curious to see the reaction. He was very satisfied when he heard Dream cry out. He also noticed the cut on Dream’s side from the start of the fight, it had stopped bleeding a while ago but the bright red skin surrounding it looked painful. He pulled down Dream’s shirt and smiled. 

“I’ll be back Dream, I think I’ll go say hi to your friend’s before I come back and finish this.” Dream’s eyes widened at his words. 

“N-no, please,” he pleaded, “they d-didn’t do a-anything.” 

“Haha, now you beg. It’s just going to be wonderful to see the look on their faces when I tell them you died. And then the look on your face when I show you their corpses? Worth the extra trouble.” taunted Slayer. Dream glared at him with eyes full of loathing. He attempted to stand. Slayer smiled at Dream’s pathetic attempt to move. He stepped forward and delivered another blow to Dream’s side with his foot. Dream let out an agonized cry.

-1 ½ hearts-

“Stay put.” demanded Slayer. Dream’s vision was going in and out. He watched Slayer pull out a pearl and throw it as far away as he could. He grabbed the ground out of anger.

“N-no…” he mumbled. He attempted to stand but barely got an inch off the ground. He felt tears of frustrations flow down his cheeks. He did this to protect them. He risked his life to keep them safe and now they were in danger. He failed.

“Dammit…” he vision was beginning to fade. Memories flashed in his brain.

  
  


_“But you can. You’re easily one of the best players. I think your decision is still stupid as fuck but… I understand why you did it so I’m not going to stop you. You can do it Dream.” Tommy looked at Dream and nodded. Dream smiled at him and began walking towards him. He stopped next to him and placed a hand on his shoulder._

_“I’ll win Tommy. You can count on it.”_

  
  


_Wilbur stopped and removed the iron sword from his hip and tossed it towards Dream._

_“You better give that back after this,” said Wilbur. Dream caught the item._

_“Of course,” he responded. Wilbur smiled and nodded turning around, he ran back to the others._

  
  


_“Wouldn’t dream of it,” he joked. Bad smiled at him. Dream heard a scoff from behind._

_“That was awful,” said George from behind. Dream chuckled._

_“I’ll have more when I get back,” said Dream with a smile._

  
  
  


“George, Tommy, Everyone... I’m sorry…” he whispered. His eyes closed and his head rested on the snow. A tear rolled down his cheek.

“I’m so sorry…

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hahaha hi.
> 
> please don't hate me
> 
> DISCLAIMER HE ISN'T DEAD
> 
> still deciding....
> 
> Word Count: 1437


	13. Duel pt. 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Duel hehe

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Happy Birthday to Wilbur! :)))
> 
> Thank you guys so much for the 4420 hits and the many comments! 
> 
> They mean so much to me guys! Thank you all! :D
> 
> Hope u guys enjoy this chapter! :)))

It had been a good 30 minutes since Dream and Slayer had gone out of sight. George tapped his foot nervously and fiddled with the bandage on his neck. 

“Where is he….” mumbled George. He felt a hand on his shoulder. George turned towards Bad.

“I’m sure he’s fine,” said Bad with a smile. George smiled back at him. 

“Yeah, he is Dream. Somehow he always manages to avoid death in situations like these,” said Sapnap. 

“He also made a promise. I’ve noticed that Dream doesn’t usually break promises but so help me if he breaks this one…” grumbled Tommy. Wilbur raised an eyebrow at his words because they implied that he and Dream had a private conversation which didn’t make any sense. He sighed and shook his head. George sighed. 

“Dream’s a good fighter. I’m sure he’ll be fine,” said Skeppy. Just as those words left his mouth they heard some branches snap and then footsteps. All of their heads turned to the sound. George smiled and stood up.

“Dr-” he started but the words died in his mouth when Slayer walked towards them with bloody fists. George stumbled backwards and put a hand on his mouth.

“Oh god… no…” he mumbled tears coming to his eyes. Sapnap pulled George behind him. Techno jumped up and pulled out his sword. Slayer stopped a few feet away from their seats. He stared at them with a blank expression. All of them were now standing, the few who brought weapons had them drawn. The tension between them was unbearable and George couldn’t stop himself from speaking. 

“Where…?” he asked quietly, “Where is Dream?” Slayer’s face changed. A large grin found its way onto his face. George’s heart sank.

“He was a strong opponent, but he had a major weakness.” said Slayer as he pointed his sword at them.

“You guys.” George heard a cry next to him. He turned towards Sapnap who fell to the ground with his hands over his mouth and tears sliding down his cheeks. George watched his friend begin to sob and he joined him on the ground and pulled him into a hug. He had his own tears running down his cheeks. The words hadn’t sunk in yet but when they did George let out an anguished cry and clutched onto Sapnap even tighter. 

“N-no…” mumbled Tommy. Wilbur pulled him and Tubbo into a hug, holding their heads to his chest. Bad cried out and hugged Skeppy tightly, Skeppy sniffed and buried his face into Bad’s shoulder. Techno stood frozen, eyes wide, mouth open but no words came out. Sapnap sobbed louder and buried his face into George’s shoulder. 

“He can’t be…” said Techno. Rage flooded Techno’s senses and he unexpectedly lunged at Slayer catching him off guard. Techno swung his sword, it hit Slayer’s side. Slayer cried out and jumped back. The group stared at Techno. The pig hybrid had tears flowing down his cheeks, his teeth were bared and he looked PISSED. Slayer clutched his side. 

“You son of a bitch,” cursed Techno. Slayer smiled and it was his turn to lunge at Techno. He blocked but Slayer’s most recent strength potion was still kicking so the impact sent him flying. Wilbur barely managed to catch his teammate. 

“Techno, stop.” said Wilbur between gritted teeth. Techno coughed and stood back up. 

“You guys should’ve been there.” said Slayer, “His screams of pain when I would beat the shit out of him were hilarious.” Sapnap perked up at those words and he glared at Slayer. 

“WHAT.” siad Sapnap. Slayer laughed.

“Everytime I kicked him or punched him he cried out or screamed. It sent shivers down my spine when he screamed after I broke 2 or his ribs.” The whole group glared at him with unadulterated loathing. 

“He was close to sobbing at one point. There were literal tears running down his face. Oh and all the  _ blood. _ ” said Slayer with an amused tone. Tommy stepped forwards.

“Shut the FUCK up.” he demanded. Slayer raised an eyebrow and smirked.

“Or what  _ child _ ? Think you could even touch me?” challenged Slayer. Tommy stepped forward again.

“Why don’t you get closer and we’ll try it,” growled Tommy. Wilbur put a hand on Tommy's shoulder and pulled him back. Tommy was going to protest until he saw Wilbur’s eyes. They were filled with nothing but hate. Sapnap stood up, his hair hung over his eyes. 

“You’re going to pay for that motherfucker,” said Sapnap. He lunged at Slayer with an axe. Slayer smiled and readied his shield. Sapnap’s axe collided with the wood. 

“LETS GO GUYS!!” he screamed. Techno was first to charge, aiming for Slayer’s leg. Slayer tried to back up but Sapnap grabbed his hair and pulled him closer. The blade cut through his flesh. He grunted and punched Sapnap in the side. Sapnap gasped as he hit the ground. Techno jumped back before Slayer could hit him. Slayer dodged George’s sword next but two arrows grazed his shoulder. Skeppy tossed the rest of his arrows to Tommy and Tubbo and pulled out his own sword. He ran at Slayer who was going to block Skeppy’s attack but Bad and Wilbur had a tight grip on his shield. Slayer grunted and released his shield so he could dodge Skeppy’s attack. He backed up but noticed that they were surrounding him. He eyed them all. He smirked. None of them were truly prepared for a fight. The only real advantage they had was numbers which meant all Slayer had to do was chop a few down and this would be an easy fight. Slayer pulled out another strength potion and another swiftness. Sapnap noticed.

“Quick! Don’t let him drink those,” but he was too late. Slayer had already chugged both bottles of magical liquid. Sapnap growled but suddenly Slayer was gone from the middle and was behind him. 

“You’re annoying,” said Slayer darkly. He turned around but his eyes saw the blade swinging towards his torso. Sapnap tried to dodge but couldn’t get away quick enough. The blade sliced through the skin on his left arm and his upper torso nearing his collarbone. Sapnap gasped. He then got punched in the gut. He let out a cry and fell to the ground. 

“SAPNAP!” yelled Bad. Slayer eyed him and swiftly ran over to him digging his blade into Bad’s shoulder. Bad cried out but managed to swing his blade with his other arm and stabbed Slayer in the thigh. Slayer grunted and pulled back. Bad landed on his feet and clutched his shoulder. The others did another wave of attacks. George ran over to Sapnap. 

Sap!” he yelled. Sapnap’s eyes fluttered back open. 

“How many hearts?” asked George. He tore off his own hoodie to apply pressure to the wounds. Sapnap coughed.

“3…” he mumbled. Sapnap let out a yell when George applied more pressure to the wound. George looked up at his friends who were still fighting. Bad made eye contact with him and then ran towards them. He kneeled down next to Sapnap and put a hand on his forehand.

“H-he’s bleeding a lot.” stuttered George. Bad looked Sapnap in his eyes. Sapnanp’s eyes were glossy.

“I-I don’t wanna d-die,” croaked Sapnap. Bad and George looked at eachother.

“You’re not going to die Sap. I think Dream had a potion of healing in his bag,” said Bad. George looked up at him.   
“If I can get that I can heal your wounds enough to at least stop the bleeding.” mumbled Bad. 

“Do you even know where they went?” asked George. A yell made them jump and they turned to see Wilbur on the ground, Slayer standing over him.

“Bye-bye,” chuckled Slayer. Wilbur had a large gash on his leg so moving wasn’t an option. Slayer swung his blade.

“Step away!” yelled Techno from behind Slayer. Techno kicked the back of Slayer’s knees and they buckled, the blade shifted in the air and just barely missed Wilbur. Techno jumped in front of Wilbur and helped him up. 

“Are you okay?” he asked. Wilbur groaned. 

“It’s just my leg,” he responded with. George stood up after telling Bad to keep applying pressure to Sapnap’s wound.

“Techno! Wilbur! Over here!” he called. They looked towards him and Techno picked up Wilbur bridal style and ran over to them while the others continued to attack. He sat him down gently. 

“Fuck…” said Wilbur as he looked at the wound on his leg. It was rather deep and bleeding quite a lot. 

“How is he doing?” asked Techno when he spotted Sapnap. George glanced towards his bleeding friend. 

“He needs to be healed especially if we can’t stop the bleeding.” answered Bad.

“George. Can you keep pressure on Sap’s wound? I need to go find Dream’s bag.” said Bad. George nodded and moved over to Sapnap. 

“Dream’s bag?” questioned Techno. He had started applying pressure to WIlbur’s leg.

“Yeah, Dream told me one day that he always carries 2 or 3 healing potions especially if he’s going to the nether. Since you guys just got back he should still have them unless he used them while fighting Slayer.” said Bad. 

“Techno, you need to keep fighting. You’re probably the best fighter here and since we don’t have Dream you need to get back in there.” said George. His heart hurt saying Dream’s name, he felt the hole in his chest grow bigger when he said that name. Techno looked at Wilbur.

“But what about Wilbur?”

“No, he’s right. You’re our best chance at getting out of here alive. I know that’s a lot of pressure but you’re our only option. Tell Tubbo or Tommy to come help us over here.” agreed Wilbur. Techno nodded.

“I’ll do my best. Goodluck Bad.” said Techno before rejoining the fight. George looked towards Sapnap.

“Hey are you doing okay?” he asked. Sapnap’s glossy eyes looked at him and he gave a small smile. 

“N-never b-better, you?” he remarked. George felt a few tears escape his eyes.

“Ha ha,” responded George. Sapnap coughed, blood leaked from his mouth. George took off his belt and tied it around the sweat on Sapnap’s chest so the wound would have constant pressure. Sapnap cried out at the pain. 

“Sorry, sorry,” apologized George. He pulled Sapnap in his lap and began combing his fingers through his hair. Bad stood up. 

“Are you leaving?” asked Wilbur. Bad smiled and nodded. George noticed his shaking hands. 

“Bad. You can do this,” he said. 

“I know I just… I don’t- I don’t want to see his…” stuttered Bad. The hole in George’s chest grew larger again. He looked down when the tears came into his eyes.

“B-bad,” whispered Sapnap, his bloody fingers motioned for him to come here. Bad obliged and kneeled next to Sapnap. Sapnap grabbed his hand and gave it a squeeze. 

“Dream would want you to do this. He w-was always one to help o-others, and so are y-you. I know it's g-gonna be tough but I know you got t-this.” said Sapnap. Bad had tears going down his face and so did Sapnap. Bad turned to Wilbur, who was also crying.

“We believe in you.” said Wilbur with a smile. Bad took a shaky breath and stood up. 

“I’ll be back as fast as I can,” said Bad. He sniffed and wiped his tears away. He gave them a grin and turned around. George watched him disappear into the trees. He looked down towards Sapnap and frowned.

“Please hurry Bad… I can't lose any more friends today…” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Angst and whump? Yes.
> 
> Hope u guys enjoyed the chapter :))
> 
> Next one should be out later tonight or tomorrow :D
> 
> Word Count: 1929 LONGEST ONE WOOO
> 
> (sorry if there's grammar errors I had to rush putting this out haha)


	14. Duel pt.6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> HAHAHA HAVE FUN CRYING BC I SURE DID

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This shit is sad
> 
> Lmao I went to bed at like 9 on accident, that's the earliest I've gone to bed in a while so my body wasn't used to it and I woke up around 2:17 am. So i decided to write the next chapter and maybe start the chapter after it hehe.
> 
> This one is a little shorter than usual but I think you guys will like the next chapter hehe
> 
> Hope u enjoy it :D 
> 
> I'm sorry in advance for your tears ;-;

Bad ran through the trees as fast as he could. He had found footsteps pretty early and has been following them since. He was breathing hard, the running made the wound on his shoulder hurt. Bad came to a stop once he found a few droplets of blood on the snow floor. Bad swallowed, that nervous feeling he had before came back full force. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath. 

“You can do this Bad, Wilbur and Sap are depending on you,” he told himself as he followed the droplets of blood. Just as the blood was becoming more frequent he spotted a small brown bag laying in the snow. A small smile formed on his face and he ran to the bag. He picked it up and dusted the snow off of it. Bad unbuckled the straps and looked through it. His eyes caught sight of at least 5 bottles. He crouched and poured the bag out. The bottles and some arrows fell out. What Bad didn’t expect was to see a book fall out of the bag. It was a small leather back journal of sorts. Bad picked it up and turned it over. Dream’s initials were hand stitched into the cover. Bad felt tears come to his eyes when he opened the first page. It was a picture of Dream, Sapnap and George. They all had arms around each other's shoulders and they all had large grins on their faces. The words, ‘The Dream Team!’ were written at the top of the photo. Bad swallowed thickly and sniffed. He turned the page and let out a small whimper. It was a picture of Him, Dream, Sap, and George. The words ‘Minecraft Manhunt 1 v 3!’ were written at the bottom of the page. He remembered taking that photo. It was from the first Manhunt they did together. Bad heard the snap of a branch and turned around quickly holding out his sword, his eyes landed on a disheveled and out of breath Tommy.

“WOAH! Calm down!” said Tommy frantically. Bad’s eyes widened and he lowered his weapon.

“I’m sorry Tommy I just…” he said wiping his eyes. Tommy frowned when he noticed Bad had been crying. Whenever Bad cried it always hurt the most since he was so sweet. Tommy walked towards him and put a hand on his shoulder.

“Are you okay?” he asked. He wasn’t usually one to deal with emotions but he’d have to get over that considering Dream’s death. Bad looked at him with sad eyes and held out the notebook.

“I found his bag and then I found this and I just-” said Bad, he sniffed cutting himself off. Tommy took the book from his hands and opened to a random page. His heart stopped immediately. It was a picture of the L'amanburg crew on one page and the Dream SMP crew on the other. It was taken right after the war ended. Wilbur had his arms around Tommy’s and Tubbo’s shoulders. Tommy had a large grin on his face and a fist in the air. Tubbo had a grin on his face too, he was laughing about something but Tommy couldn’t remember what. Wilbur had a smile on his face. Tubbo also had an arm around Fundy’s shoulders, the fox was grinning happily. On the second page was a picture of Dream’s team. Dream was in the middle, a sword in hand and a proud grin on his face. He was holding both of Tommy’s discs. George was next to him, a smile on his face. Sapnap had an arm around Eret’s shoulder. Punz was laughing at Tommy who was in the background frowning because he lost his discs. Tommy flipped to a page closer to the back of the book, not wanting to remember that. He immediately regretted it when he saw the picture. It was a picture of him and Dream. It was from the twitch prime stream. They had an arm around each other's shoulder. Both had large grins on their faces. Tubbo and Quackity were in the back laughing. Tommy didn’t even notice when the tears started falling down his cheeks. He felt a pair of arms wrap around him snapping him out of his daze. He wiped his tears away.

“S-shit I didn’t-” rasped Tommy. 

“It’s okay to cry when you're in pain Tommy,” said Bad. Tommy felt more tears form and he hugged Bad back, burying his face in his shoulder. 

“He- I miss him dammit,” mumbled Tommy. Bad nodded.

“It’s okay, I do too.” Bad himself had begun crying too. Tommy pulled away and scrubbed at his face. He suddenly felt anger and guilt wash over him. 

“He made a fucking promise. I let him leave,” said Tommy. Bad looked at him with confusion.

“What?” he asked. Tommy looked at him. 

“I let him leave to go fight Slayer! He made a damn promise and he fucking broke it!” yelled Tommy angrily. 

“What do you mean by ‘I let him leave’?” Tommy sniffed.

“After he got out… I saw him outside the bunker.” Bad’s eyes widened at his words.

“I let him leave.” whispered Tommy, “because I thought he could win.” Bad opened his mouth to speak. But Tommy turned and punched a tree.

“AND NOW HE’S FUCKING DEAD AND IT’S MY FAULT!!” screamed Tommy. Hot tears flowed down his cheeks. Bad’s eyes widened. Tommy was blaming himself for something like this. 

“Oh my god…” he whispered. Bad stepped forwards and placed a hand on Tommy’s shoulder. 

“No, no, no, Tommy this isn’t your fault. It never was and it never will be. You can’t blame yourself for something like that. It’ll tear at you for the rest of your life.” said Bad. Tommy sniffed.

“You don’t want that.” he said, “Dream wouldn’t want that.” Tommy leaned against a tree and sunk to the ground. He wiped at the tears on his face again. Bad sat down next to him. They sat there in silence while Bad checked the labels of all the potions. He sat the 3 healing potions next to Tommy and put the other 2 back in the bag. Bad sighed. 

“Are you okay Tommy?” asked Bad. Tommy glanced at him before looking away.

“I’m fine,” he rasped. Bad stood up and held out a hand for Tommy.

“We should probably get back, Sap and Wilbur really need these.” said Bad gesturing to the potions. Tommy looked up and accepted Bad’s hand. The two were going to start heading back until they heard a whimper. Both froze in their tracks. They turned around slowly and looked towards the direction of the whimper. They eyed each other when they heard something move. Bad gripped his sword tightly and held it out in front of him.

“Hello…?” asked Bad quietly. They heard a twig snap and a figure came into view. Both of their eyes widened. 

“Bad…? Tommy…?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> How was it?
> 
> lol it was just supposed to be Bad but then I thought about Tommy and I was like. hehe Tommy blames himself for Dream's "death"
> 
> beautiful angst 
> 
> The picture book idea just fucking- SLAPPED me in the face and it made me so sad ;-;
> 
> Either way I hope you enjoyed reading! Next chapter should be out tonight! :)))
> 
> Word Count: 1115
> 
> -Ash :)


	15. Duel pt.7

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> hi..... sorry its really late
> 
> sorry it sucks too

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> im so sorry this is so late. Its kinda funny, a lot of u guys were saying how fast i was in the comments then i dont update for 3 days. Ironic huh?
> 
> anyway im sorry this chapter is really bad in my opinion. i like hate this so much so I get if you don't like it. 
> 
> hope u like it anyways. :)

Dream’s eyes fluttered open. Pain shot through him the moment he was awake enough to feel it. He groaned in response, the memories from not too long ago waking him up completely. He felt panic flood his senses, Slayer left. His friends were in danger. Just that thought alone gave him the strength to roll over on his back. Sharp, stabbing pain erupted from his chest when he moved. He let out a quiet cry. Dream glanced at his health. 

-1 ½ hearts-

He cringed at how low it was. While he was still in a significant amount of pain, it hurt less to move since Slayer hadn’t beaten the shit out of him recently. Once he stands up he should be fine since nothing will be touching his torso. While Slayer was torturing him Dream had tried to get away and he’d gotten kinda far but Slayer caught up to him with ease because of the swiftness potion. Slayer dragged him back to where they were, picked up his sword and gave his calf a deep cut. Dream looked down at his leg. Blood soaked his jeans and it hurt like hell to move. Dream grunted. Despite the pain he managed to sit up, pain pulsed through his body. He was breathing hard and tears welled in his eyes. 

“Dammit Dream, come on. It’s just a little pain.” he told himself. His voice was raspy from the tight grip Slayer had on his neck. Dream didn’t even have to look at his neck to know a bruise was there. Using all his strength he barely managed to stand up. He bit back a scream when he was fully standing. He put all his weight on the tree next to him. Dream panted, pain wracked his body. He squeezed his eyes shut and stood still to see if he could get even a slight relief from the pain. He used his foot to lift up his sword and he carefully put it in its sheath. He gripped the side of his chest and took a step. Dream took a deep breath and stared at the direction Slayer threw the pearl. Determination sparked in his green eyes.

“I’m coming guys…” said Dream as he slowly limped forwards. After a few minutes of whimpering and limping Dream suddenly heard a voice. His head turned to the sound. He recognized that voice anywhere. That was Tommy. He immediately turned and headed towards him. When he was getting closer Bad’s voice filled his ears. He felt tears come to his eyes. Dream had to stop and catch his breath before he continued. He let out a whimper and saw Tommy’s white shirt. He ignored the pain and continued walking. He stepped on a branch right before he reached another tree and leaned against it. He looked up, 2 figures came into view.

“Bad…? Tommy…?” questioned Dream. His vision was blurry from the pain of walking and exhaustion. Bad and Tommy stood still for a moment, mouths agape. They observed the beaten form of their friend. He was clutching his side, there was dry blood from his nostrils, and a stream of dried blood on the side of his head. His blonde hair was messier than usual and he was missing his mask. One of his eyes was closed partly because of the cut right above it. He had a purple hand- shaped bruise on his neck. Blood stained his jeans. The 3 stood in silence before Bad spoke.

“D-Dream?” he stuttered. Dream perked up at the voice and he looked towards them both with tired eyes. He sighed in relief. At least he knew 2 of them were safe. He reopened his eyes and smiled at them.

“T-the one and only,” he whispered. He attempted to step forward but he forgot about his leg so when he stepped on it a cry of pain escaped from his lips and his knee gave out. He felt an arm catch him before he hit the ground. Dream glanced over and saw Tommy. He had an arm around Dream’s back holding him up. 

“You’re an idiot,” said Tommy. Dream smiled at him the best he could. He noticed how Tommy was trying to hold back tears. He felt a hand touch his cheek and his green eyes met Bad’s eye. He had tears running down his cheeks. Bad rubbed his thumb on Dream’s cheek before a sob came from him and he threw his arms around Dream’s shoulders. Dream held back a cry. Tommy lowered him gently to the ground and removed his arm from Dream’s back. Dream wrapped his arms around Bad. 

“I thought, I- I-,” said Bad between breaths. Dream shushed him.

“It’s o-okay. I’m fine,” responded Dream. Dream’s eye moved to Tommy who was looking away from them, Dream’s eyes didn’t miss the tears running down the boys cheeks. He grabbed the hem of Tommy’s shirt and tugged it. Tommy quickly wiped his tears away and looked down at Dream. 

“Get in here,” said Dream quietly. Tommy’s eyes widened slightly at his words before he hesitantly kneeled down. Before Tommy even had the chance to lean in Dream put a hand on the back of his neck and pulled him into the hug. Tommy sat there for a moment before he sniffed and he hugged Dream back. Dream inwardly screamed at the pressure on his ribs and torso but he thought he’d let them have their moment. Bad continued to sob into his shoulder and Tommy sniffed every now and then. Dream couldn’t take the pressure anymore and he pulled away.

“Sorry, my chest is killing me,” he said. Bad wiped away his tears and looked at Dream with a smile. 

“I’m so happy you’re okay…” rasped Bad. Tommy let out a scoff.

“I think okay is a bit of a stretch.” he said sarcastically. Dream looked at him and let out a chuckle. 

“You’re not wrong,” agreed Dream. He shifted and pain shot through his side again. He mumbled a quick ‘fuck’ under his breath. Bad perked up when an idea came to his head. 

“Oh! I know something that’ll help!” he said as he stood up and retrieved one of the healing potions. He popped off the cork and held it out in front of Dream. Dream eyed the bottle before gently taking it with his shaking hand.

“Healing?” he asked. Bad nodded. Dream took a small sip. After feeling something in his chest shift he took a few more gulps of the liquid. The pain in his chest subsided, not fully but it felt better. He sat the bottle in the snow next to him and gently patted his torso. He learned rather quickly that it didn’t heal his bruises but his broken ribs were only fractured now. It still hurt like hell but he figured he could put up with it. He glanced at his health. 

-6 hearts- 

He mentally decided that 6 hearts was way better than 1 ½ hearts. The stab wound on his leg was still there and so were the cuts on his arm and side but they stopped bleeding. Most of the external injuries were still there radiating pain but his broken ribs and concussion felt way better than before. He grunted.

“Did it work?” asked Tommy. Dream looked at him.

“Yeah, I feel way better. Thanks guys,” he said. Tommy looked at him.

“How the hell are you even alive? Slayer said that you…” Tommy’s words trailed off near the end of the sentence. Dream scowled at his words. 

“I’ve been known to get quite lucky in situations like these,” joked Dream. Bad gave him a sympathetic smile and stood up. 

“The others… they’re going to be so happy when they see you.” said Bad. Tommy held a hand out to Dream which Dream accepted. Tommy pulled him up. 

“I can’t believe it took you almost dying to get a face reveal,” remarked Tommy while Bad gathered the stuff. Dream laughed and rubbed the back of his neck. 

“Surprise I guess.” 

“I think you look great!” said Bad after he rejoined them. 

“Minus the blood,” added Tommy. Dream smiled. Tommy glanced towards the direction they came from. 

“We need to get back. Sapnap and Wilbur really need those potions.” stated Tommy. Bed hummed in agreement. Dream froze for a second at his words. Sap and Wil were hurt?

“Wait, what the hell happened?” he asked. Bad turned to him. 

“Slayer came back. He uh… said he killed you and started talking about what he did to you…” started Bad as he put an arm around Dream helping him stand. They started walking, Bad was supporting Dream as he limped, leaving Tommy to lead the group.

“We were all quite pissed and we began attacking him. We were doing good until he drank a swiftness and a strength potion. He managed to surprise attack Sapnap and he stabbed Bad’s shoulder.” finished Tommy. He gestured to Bad’s shoulder, Dream didn’t notice it before but once he really looked at it he could see the discoloration on his clothing from the blood. He felt nauseous all of a sudden. The group began walking quicker. Dream felt rage spark in his chest.

“What about Wilbur?” he asked through gritted teeth.

“He got a really deep cut on his leg, and may have hit an artery. Sapnap got cut across the upper part of his torso near his collarbone and his arm was pretty bad too.” replied Bad sadly.

“We need to go faster,” said Dream, trying to make Bad speed up since he was basically carrying him. 

“But Dream your leg,” reasoned Bad. 

“My leg is fine, I’m not letting 2 of my friends die because of my fucking leg injury,” said Dream pulling away from Bad only using one hand to balance himself. 

“I agree-” started Tommy but a loud scream interrupted him. Dream’s green eyes widened at the sound. It was a cry of pure agony. And it sounded like Sapnap. Bad felt Dream’s hand disappear and when he turned around Dream was already gone. 

“Fuck.” said Tommy.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope u like it but get it if u didnt haha
> 
> im not very proud of it ;-;
> 
> thank you for all the supportive comments! 
> 
> -Ash :)
> 
> Word Count: 1693
> 
> Sorry again i know it sucks and its even worse bc u guys waited so long for it. :(


	16. Duel pt.8

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> GUYS HI 
> 
> NEW CHAPTER WOOO
> 
> Hope u like it!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi guys! I really hope u like this one! I think we'll be getting to the end after the next few chapters! 
> 
> Alternate endings! WOOO
> 
> Also! I posted a short fanfic with Tommy and Dream bc if u didn't know I really like their friendship :)
> 
> It'd mean a lot if you'd go check it out! 
> 
> u dont have to tho so don't feel pressured too! :)

The moment Dream heard that scream he was running. Agony coursed through him but he didn’t give a shit. He just heard his best friend of almost 8 years let out a pained scream and he wasn’t happy about it. The adrenaline he was feeling numbed any pain. The wound on his leg was beginning to leak blood again, darkening his pant leg even more. Another scream came from the direction he was running. He kept telling himself to keep running. That if he just kept running he’d get there in time. He came to a stop under a tree. He took in the scene. Slayer was standing tall, a boot crushing Sapnap’s chest. Tubbo had a pale looking Wilbur in his arms, Tubbo himself had an arrow in his shoulder and a stream of blood dripping off his chin from his nose. Techno was standing maybe 5 feet away, sword in hand and aimed towards Slayer. He was clutching his side where his white shirt was turning red. Skeppy’s blue hoodie was stained red on his side. He was also holding George back. George had blood running down the side of his head, he had a few cuts on his arms as well. George was struggling to get to his friend. 

“SAPNAP!!!” screamed George desperately. He had tears running down his cheeks. Dream felt pure rage flow through his body. He was going to run at Slayer until he felt a hand on his shoulder. He turned and saw Tommy with Bad only a few paces behind. 

“You can’t just charge in there dumbass,” said Tommy. Dream scowled at him and noticed the ender pearl in Tommy’s pocket. He reached for it quickly but Tommy removed it and held it away from him. Dream eyed him with cold eyes making Tommy shiver.

“Dream you need to calm down, we all know you’re reckless when you’re angry. You charge head into danger without a thought. It has happened since the beginning of the Slayer incident.” said Bad. Dream looked at him. Bad placed a hand on his back. Dream knew they were right. Slayer really was right about his friend’s being his weakness. He sighed and took a deep breath calming down. 

“There you go,” said Bad with a smile. Another scream from Sapnap made him turn towards his friends again. Pure hatred and anger was still there but he forced himself to remain calm. Or as calm as he could. 

“Bad, you need to help the others since there’s more injured than when you left.” said Dream. He clutched his leg, the pain from running on it came. Bad nodded. Dream pulled out his sword with a shaky hand. 

“I’ll get him away from Sap. Tommy you grab him and pull him to the others. I’ll keep him off of you guys while Bad helps with the more severe wounds got it?” asked Dream sternly. 

“Got it Big man,” responded Tommy. Tommy held out the ender pearl in front of him. Dream took the orb and got ready to throw it. 

“Ready guys?” he asked. Both of them smiled and nodded. The other two ran out first directly towards their injured comrades. His eyes observed the area for a good place to throw the pearl while Tommy and Bad were there. He heard some yelling from Techno. He made eye contact with Tommy, Dream nodded telling him to get ready. Dream decided he’d mess with Slayer by pulling a Slayer. He threw the pearl and the world faded black for a few seconds. He reappeared behind Slayer, that rage returned to him when his eyes found Sapnap on the ground covered in blood. Slayer who had been laughing froze immediately.

“Hi Slayer~” he taunted from behind. 

“SHI-” started Slayer but the sword that entered the side of his abdomen made him shut up. He threw an ender pearl and disappeared, Dream’s blade went with him. Dream eternally cursed now that he didn’t have a weapon but immediately knelt down next to Sapnap. His eyes were squeezed shut, blood was dripping from the corners of his mouth and nose. Dream observed the wounds that Bad had talked about. He didn’t even need to look to imagine how many bruises he had on his torso. He placed a hand on Sapnap’s face, earning a flinch from him. 

“Sap?” he whispered. Sapnap’s eyes fluttered open. They were dull and filled with pain but when his eyes landed on Dream a light flickered in them.

“D-dream?”

  
  


(Went back in time a bit with a different perspective, hope its not confusing)

  
  


George was trying his best to get out of Skeppy’s grip. He hated not being able to help Sapnap. Somehow Slayer managed to separate the two and he grabbed hold of Sapnap in the process and now Sapnap was on his back a boot on his chest slowly crushing it. George clawed at the arms wrapped around his torso. 

“Let me go Skeppy!!” demanded George when another gut wrenching scream came from Sapnap. Tears were running down his cheeks.

“No dammit! You know you can’t fight him idiot!” argued Skeppy. Slayer laughed and pressed down harder earning a cry from Sapnap.

“STOP IT YOU BASTARD!” yelled Tubbo. The smirk on Slayer’s face grew larger.

“Make me.” he taunted. Techno tried to make a move but his vision was blurry from blood loss and his mind was more focused on Wilbur. He hadn’t spoken in a while and he’d gotten signfically paler. When Sapnap was attacked Slayer didn’t hit any of his major blood vessels but Wilbur hadn’t gotten so lucky. Footsteps were heard next to them and George’s head turned to see Bad and Tommy running to them. The two collapsed next to them.

“Guys-” started Techno but another cry from Sapnap cut him off.

“So you two finally decided to join us, hm?” said Slayer sarcastically. Tommy glared at him, he was kneeling in front of Tubbo and Wilbur. He stood up.

“Bad, i’m gonna go in,” said Tommy. The whole group shot up at that. Even half - conscious Wilbur had a few words. 

“Excuse me what?!” yelled Techno. Tommy looked towards the older male. 

“Like hell you are!” argued Tubbo. 

“I’m just getting Sapnap so shut up.” said Tommy. He made eye contact with Dream in the treeline. Dream nodded and Tommy smirked. Slayer laughed.

“I’d like to see you try and get him-” Dream threw the pearl and reappeared behind him. The others noticed the figure behind Slayer, and Tommy took off towards them. The others watched in total disbelief when a sword pierced Slayer’s abdomen. They watched him throw a pearl and their eyes widened at the figure they spotted. George felt more tears roll down his cheeks. Even though none of them had seen his face they all knew. A feeling in their chest’s maybe, but they knew it was Dream. They watched their friend crouch down next to Sapnap and say something to him. Tommy skidded to a stop next to them. 

“Shit, is he okay?” asked Tommy when he caught sight of Sapnap’s injuries. Dream didn’t answer immediately, he was focused on Sapnap. Sapnap’s hand moved to Dream’s cheek and Dream placed one of his hands over Sap’s bloody hand. 

“D-dream?” he whispered. Tears fell down Dream’s cheeks. 

“Yeah, it’s me. You’re safe.” said Dream with a smile. Tears rolled down Sapnap’s cheeks. Dream and Tommy could tell he was struggling to stay awake. 

“Tommy, I can help you carry him over there. He needs medical attention immediately.” said Dream, wiping away his tears. Tommy nodded and the two helped pick up Sapnap. Dream pulled one of Sapnap’s arms behind his neck and Tommy did the same. They walked over to the group as fast as possible. Dream was so caught up in the moment that he completely forgot he “died”. 

“He needs one of those potions immediately.” said Dream when they made it over to him. Tommy lowered Sapnap to the ground as gently as possible. Dream looked at Sapnap then suddenly remembered he was kinda dead to these people. He turned to them and chuckled nervously. 

“Uh hi?” he said nervously. His hand found the bottom of his shirt and he began fiddling with it despite his cut fingers. His eyes landed on Bad who smiled at him while he began treating Sapnap. No one spoke and he closed his eyes until he felt a pair of arms wrap around his torso squeezing his ribs. He held back a cry of pain but looked down to see George hugging him, tears falling down his face. He began sobbing. Dream felt his own tears come to his eyes and he hugged the shorter male back. George kept trying to speak but his voice kept getting cut off by sharp inhales. Dream pulled away and looked into George’s eyes.

“Shh, it’s okay George. I’m okay George.” said Dream quietly. George wiped at the tears on his face and smiled at Dream.

“You look like shit,” said George. Dream remembered this was probably the first time any of them had seen his face. He laughed at the odd situation that finally caused him to do a face reveal. He winked at him.

“Still beautiful though.” said Dream with a smug smile. George chuckled. 

“D-don’t pull that shit again.” said George. Dream laughed quietly. 

“I’ll try,” responded Dream. George lightly punched him at the answer. Dream felt a hand on his shoulder. He looked and saw Techno standing next to him with a smile.

“I’m glad you’re okay,” was all he said. Dream smiled at him and pulled him into a hug, surprising Techno.

“Glad you’re not dead either. I still need a rival after all.” remarked Dream. Techno smiled and returned the hug. 

“Ha of course.” agreed Techno. The two separated and Dream turned and knelt down next to Wilbur and Tommy after making eye contact with them. 

“Hey Wil, you doing alright?” he asked. Wilbur’s half lidded eyes found Dream and he smiled weakly at him.

“Better now that I know you aren’t dead.” answered Wilbur. Dream let out a breathy laugh and looked at Tubbo who was smiling at him with tears in his eyes.

“Glad to see you're okay too Tubbo,” said Dream. 

“You too.” Dream looked towards Skeppy. Skeppy smiled at him with tears. Dream walked over to him and the two shared a hug. 

“I’m glad all of you are okay,” said Dream when he pulled away. He observed his friends, they were all injured to some degree. He only assumed they were the first ones to attack. 

“Y’all are pretty reckless you know that?” remarked Dream. Skeppy let out a laugh.

“You’re one to talk.” responded Skeppy. Dream laughed at him. They heard a groan behind them. Dream turned around and saw Slayer. He was clutching the hole in his abdomen, Dream’s sword was on the ground covered in blood. Slayer looked pissed but at the same time amused. A smirk found its way onto his face. 

“Surprised you actually managed to get up after that beating I gave you.” said Slayer. Dream felt every injury he had ache when the memories of that came back to him. He shrugged.

“I'm a very stubborn person.” remarked Dream. Slayer scoffed and chugged what Dream only assumed to be a healing potion. Slayer hand moved away from his torso and picked up Dream’s sword. Dream wasn’t a big fan of that since it technically wasn’t his sword. He made a promise to give it back to Wilbur and he planned too. Dream snarled.

“I’d like that back please.” said Dream. Slayer chuckled. 

“Come and get it.” mocked Slayer. Dream saw Tommy remove Sapnap’s sword from his hip and threw it towards Dream. Dream caught it and held it in front of him.

“Bad, treat the more serious wounds first. Focus on the non life threatening one’s later. I’m going to keep him off of you guys while you help them okay?” said Dream. 

“Got it.” said Bad. Dream was going to start walking towards him but George grabbed his sleeve and he turned to him. He held out a lime green hoodie. 

“Your shirt isn’t doing too good.” said George. Dream looked down and noticed all the tears and holes in it. He smiled and took the garment pulling it over his head. He liked the softness of the lime green cotton. Sapnap coughed and Dream looked down at him. 

“N-no dying this time okay…?” said Sapnap. Dream grinned at him.

“Hell no.” responded Dream. Sapanp smiled at him and closed his eyes. Dream took a deep breath and walked towards Slayer. 

“Ready for round two?” asked Slayer. Dream grinned causing Slayer to frown.

“Born ready.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope u liked it! 
> 
> i was kinda iffy on this haha 
> 
> Thank you all so much for the supportive comments! they really do mean a lot :) 
> 
> Its thanks to u guys that this story has continued this long so it honestly feels selfish saying 'your welcome' when people thank me for writing and continuing it since its really bc of ur support! Just thank you so much guys!
> 
> I hope u enjoyed this! Next chapter should be out soon! :)))
> 
> Word Count: 2133


	17. Duel pt.9

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Suffer :)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry in advance for your tears 
> 
> hope you'll forgive me haha
> 
> Hope you enjoy ;)

A loud clang rang through the air as their blades met. Dream snarled and kicked Slayer in the face. Slayer stumbled backwards and wiped the blood dripping from his nose away. His usual smirk was on his face. It was pissing Dream off. The two hadn’t been fighting long but they were basically evenly matched so it was hard. As far as Dream knew Slayer was out of potions so they actually had an equal chance. His friend’s were watching with worried gazes. Dream jumped back, separating him and Slayer. Dream grinned.

“This is pretty easy! Thought it’d be harder considering the last time we fought.” mocked Dream. He always had a bad habit of getting cocky, but he just couldn’t help it sometimes. Slayer growled but his smirk returned only seconds after. He charged at Dream who blocked with his blade another clang rang through the cold air. This time Dream managed to knock Slayer’s sword away. Slayer's eyes widened when Dream charged. He used his arms to stop the iron sword from damaging his chest. He let out a cry and swiftly kicked Dream in the chest sending agonizing pain through his torso. 

-9 ½ hearts- 

Dream coughed and clutched his stomach. Slayer was kneeling on the ground holding his arms to his chest. Dream took a deep breath and straightened back up. Dream took this opportunity to lunge at Slayer. Slayer barely managed to dodge and was very unprepared for Dream’s attack right after the other one. He grunted and hit the ground with a thud. Dream rested the blade on his shoulder and stood over him with a smirk. 

“Seems like you aren’t any good unless you have potions.” teased Dream. Slayer snarled and kicked the front of Dream legs. Dream fell backwards he let out a strangled cry when he landed on his back, the movement sent hot searing pain through his body. He saw his opponent stand back up with a blade aimed towards his head. Dream rolled to the side just barely dodging the blow. He saw the blade glisten in the sun, only mere inches from his face. He also watches as it is pulled out of the soil. Despite his body's many protests he jumped to his feet, abandoning his sword. Slayer swung again but Dream dodged. Every movement made every nerve in his body burn. He felt like he was in lava and the cold wasn’t helping. He was unarmed now so all he could rely on was his fists and dodging. Dream saw the blade coming towards his side, only inches from his hip now. He tried to dodge but Slayer was too quick and the cold metal cut through his flesh. 

-7 hearts- 

George stood up when he saw Slayer’s blade make contact with Dream’s side. He wanted nothing more than to help him but he knew how Dream would react and he was currently helping Bad with the injured. He felt his foot move and then there was a strong grip on his arm. George turned and saw Techno holding him back.

“You know that’s not smart,” said Techno. George sighed and pulled his arm away, or well, he tried to. Techno still had a firm grasp on his arm.

“Are you going to let go?” asked George. Techno stared at him before sighing and releasing his arm. George looked towards Dream, the urge to help him came back. He turned away from them in hopes that it’d calm him down. Instead he focused his attention on Sapnap. Bad had done a pretty good job patching him up. Most of the bleeding stopped and Sapnap’s pale complexion had brightened. He heard more grunts from behind him. The sound of a blade cutting through air, and the sound of boots coming on and off the ground. He squeezed his eyes shut and tried to block out the sound but images of Dream’s dead body. Dream himself wasn’t doing too good again. He had lost his weapon and Slayer hadn’t let up on his attacks, constantly bombarding him forcing Dream to dodge. He barely dodged another swipe of the man’s blade. His injuries were slowing him down, especially the one on his leg. He refused to show any visible sign of weakness but it was getting hard to hide the fear in his eyes when the blade got closer and closer. Dream attempted to attack but only got a few inches closer before the blade but through the skin on his arm.

-6 hearts-

He leaped back but his foot landed on ice almost making him slip. Dream just managed to save himself from falling but he gave Slayer a large window of attack. Slayer was suddenly in front of him, a crazed smile on his face. Dream’s eyes widened fear taking control and he attempted to back away. Slayer swung his iron sword and suddenly Dream felt immense pain blossom on his eye left. A scream erupted from his throat. It was one of prue agony as the blade cut through the skin around his left eye.

-4 hearts-

He slipped on ice and fell to the ground. His hand darted up to his eye, his finger could feel the slash mark and the warm blood seeping from the wound. He let out rapid, shaky breaths. Pain pulsed through his head. Another scream came from his throat when Slayer dug the sword into the calf of his left leg. The pain was overwhelming causing tears to flow from his eyes. He attempted to open his left eye but when he did crimson blood flooded it making the eye sting. He finally opened it, and he had a split second of relief pass through him when he realized he could still see through it meaning he dodged the sword just in time for it to only cut the sky around the eye. Fear returned full force when he caught sight of Slayer standing over him. He suddenly felt so small, so weak, so pathetic. He could see his mouth moving but his ears didn’t register anything. His uninjured green eye was wide open and full of fear. Slayer chuckled.

“That was almost too easy~” mocked Slayer. Dream tried to move but Slayer dug the blade into his side and pulled him back. A gut wrenching scream came from his mouth, more tears fell down his face. A million thoughts were going through his head but one stood out more than the others. The thought that he was going to die. A whimper escaped from his parted lips when Slayer raised his sword. His vision was blurry from blood loss and tears but even he could see the figure suddenly appear between him and Slayer. He recognized the person immediately and he forced himself up.

“NO” screamed Dream desperately. He attempted to grab him but was too late. His friend’s blood splattered to the ground staining his shirt some of it landing on Dream’s already bloody skin. His eyes widened, even the cut injured one. He stared down at the body in front of him and the blood seeping from their wounds as they took in slow and pained breaths. Dream stared at him. His white shirt was stained with the crimson blood from his wound, blending in with the red of his sleeves. His eyes were screwed shut and he wore a pained expression. He heard a voice scream.

“TOMMY!!” yelled Tubbo. Dream felt himself return to reality and he tore off his hoodie ignoring any pain and the adrenaline from seeing his friend bleeding in front of him driving him. He pressed down oh the wound, a scream came from Tommy. Dream felt tears fall down his cheeks. 

“No,no,no,nononono” he mumbled to himself.

“Tommy!” he screamed. The boy’s eyes opened and he looked at Dream. 

“Why…?” asked Dream as he continued to apply pressure to the wound. 

“My fault…. You hurt…. let you leave” said Tommy. The boy coughed and blood came from his throat. Dream removed a hand from the garment on his chest and placed it on Tommy’s cheek. Tommy blamed himself. Dream knew it the moment he found Tommy and Bad in the woods but he didn’t do anything.

“N-no Tommy. It wasn’t- it wasn't your f-fault,” rasped Dream.

“I’m s-sorry Dream,” whispered Tommy. Multiple footsteps came closer and Tubbo crashed down next to Dream and Tommy. Tears were falling down his cheeks rapidly. 

“Tommy…” mumbled Tubbo. He pulled the other 16 year old into a hug the best he could. Dream watched as the rest of the group crouched down next to him and Tommy. Dream felt the hands on his back and shoulder and the voices asking if he was okay but the only thing he focused on were the tears rolling down Tommy’s cheeks. He felt something in him snap and the next thing he knew he was in front of Slayer with a sword buried deep into his chest, piercing his heart. He didn’t even know how he managed to move or how he got a weapon but something inside him made him. Slayer had an expression of pure shock on his face. Blood came from the corners of his mouth.

“W-what…?” asked Slayer. The realization of what he did hit Dream like a brick. He’d just killed someone. He KILLED someone. Slayer gripped the sword in his chest and s a smirk found it’s way onto his face.

“W-what have I done….” said Dream to himself. Slayer chuckled.

“You lost because it didn’t matter if you killed me because I won.” said Slayer. Dream had his hands over his mouth. 

“I’ll plague your nightmare’s and your friends' nightmares. I’ll never be gone. I’ll haunt you until your death and even then I’ll torment you in hell.” spat Slayer. His eyes closed and he fell to the ground with a smirk. 

“I won….” mumbled Slayer, voice trailing off at the end. His chest stopped moving and his head fell limp. Dream stared at the corpse of his opponent before turning towards his friends. They were staring at him with looks of horror. He stepped forward but the adrenaline wore off as soon as he did and the pain from his wounds hit him all of once and he fell over. The last thing he saw before his vision went black was George running towards him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> im so sorry
> 
> but hey! Slayer's dead right! that's good right!
> 
> oh btw Tommy isn't dead, im debating on whether not to kill him or someone else.
> 
> I would usually have more to these notes but im tired and stressed bc I didn't do any of my work even tho it's due tomorrow haha
> 
> anyway,  
> I hope you guys liked it! Im sorry if it seems rushed or anything I just had trouble writing down my thoughts.  
> Hope this was pretty okay since my brain is telling me its not that awful lamo
> 
> Also forgive the grammar errors 
> 
> -Ash :)


	18. Aftermath pt. 1 (I guess???)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> FLUFF HOLY SHIT THERE'S SOME FLUFF
> 
> heheh hope y'all enjoy it! :)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm actually really happy with how this chapter turned out! 
> 
> It's probably bc I love writing hurt/comfort haha
> 
> I really do hope you guys like it! :D

Dream’s eye fluttered open. Pain coursed through his body causing him to grunt. It was dark wherever he was. Dream could feel the eye patch on his other eyes. He reached up and lightly dragged his fingers over it. He couldn’t remember everything. He remembered Slayer, the duel, the pain, his friends. He sat up slowly and painfully, his movements agitated every wound on his body. By the time he was sitting up fully he was almost sweating. He panted as he swung his legs over the edge of the bed. He noticed his bandaged legs, some of the blood bled through the layers giving it a red tint. Dream also noticed his mask on the nightstand near his bed. They must’ve fixed it, thought Dream as he picked up the smile mask and placed it on his face obscuring his eye patch but not low enough to hide his mouth. Dream took a deep breath and attempted to stand.

“Fuck!” he shouted when he put pressure on his left leg. He looked around the room and spotted a pair of crutches. He grabbed them and placed them under his arms. He also noticed the abundance of empty bottles and potion making materials which he only assumed made a healing potion. Wounds healed faster with healing potions but in hardcore they tended to leave scars. Dream could feel some of the wounds were almost closed, the one on his eye still hurt like hell though. Same with the stab wound on his side and the one on his leg. The memories were slowly coming back. Sapnap getting hurt, Wilbur getting hurt, his friends getting hurt. The effects of his concussion were hitting him full force when a migraine came out of nowhere. He put his fingers on his temples and massaged it. The events were getting less fuzzy the longer he was awake. He made his way over to what appeared to be a door. He didn’t recognize the place but the only goal he currently had was finding his friends and making sure they were okay. He froze in his tracks when a specific memory flashed in his brain. Tommy. Oh god Tommy. Tommy was hurt. He saved Dream. Dream had killed Slayer too. Dream very vividly remembered these two memories like they had happened only moments ago even though he knew it had at least been a few hours, hell it could’ve been a day ago. The sword in Slayer’s chest and his words to Dream. The blood leaking from the corners of Tommy’s mouth as his torso bled. He remembered it all.

“No….” whispered Dream. If he was correct Sapnap and Wilbur were looking really bad too. Were they…? He limped over to the door as fast as he could and opened it. The light from outside blinded him and he hissed covering his one eye, glad the other had an eye patch on it. He looked down both of the halls and recognized it as the bunker. He must’ve been in medical which means the main area was to his left. He turned and limped quickly down the corridor. Panic and fear were the only things driving him. He ignored the pain, his thoughts were overpowering it. He was panting. The door that led to the main room was now in sight and he dashed towards it. He stopped in front of it breathing heavily. The adrenaline wore off, pain returning. He squeezed his eyes shut in response. Just as he did he heard voices through the door. They were muffled but Dream quieted his breathing with his sleeve to be able to hear. He peered through the door’s windows.

“How were they?” asked Techno who was sitting next to Wilbur. Dream sighed knowing that Wilbur was safe. Bad stood up. 

“Sapnap seemed to be doing better. He lost a lot of blood but the healing potion really saved him.” answered Bad. Tubbo leaned forward on the couch. He was sitting next to Wilbur. 

“What… what about Tommy?” asked Tubbo. Dream paled at Tubbo’s question. The young male wasn’t in medical like Dream was. Bad sighed.

“Tommy was in pretty bad shape but I managed to stabilize him. He’s resting in the storage room along with Sapnap since Dream keeps needing medical treatment and because medical is too small for all three. It could be a while before Tommy wakes up though.” Dream felt relief wash over him. He placed a hand on the door with the intent to open it but his hand faltered. Guilt overtook him. He killed someone. How were they going to look at him now? He shoved a sword into someone’s chest, killing them. He was a murderer. He was just like him. A memory came back to him. 

_ “You would kill him.” said George. Dream stopped and looked towards him. George swallowed. _

_ “It’s hardcore. If you were to win, you would have to kill him. You’d be no better than him. Hurting people to get what they want.” whispered George. Dream stayed silent. He had nothing to say to that. While he wanted to kill Slayer when he first agreed, he thought about it while he was sitting here in the cell. He knew he’d be no better than him. He sighed. _

_ “Of course I know that. I didn’t plan on killing him either way.” said Dream walking back to his bed. He sat on the edge and looked towards his friends. _

_ “I’m not a murderer.” _

He laughed at the irony, it was a quiet, bitter laugh. He removed his hand from the door and turned around. He limped away with his eye shut until their voices faded completely. He hopped through the halls until a sign appeared. He turned towards it. ‘ _ Storage’  _ was what it read. He had this sudden  _ urge _ to follow the arrow on the sign. He made a move towards it but like earlier he stopped. In that room was Sapnap, his best friend of almost 8 years, someone who understood Dream the best, and then there was Tommy, his friend of almost a year now, someone who didn’t know Dream that well. He calculated the chances of their reactions, Sapnap could understand why he killed him but then there was Tommy. Hell, Tommy might not even be awake but he wanted to see them, no, he NEEDED to see them. Dream lowered his head and closed his eyes. He took in a deep breath and looked down the dark hallway. He was getting quite tired from all this movement, the pain had dulled but it was still there. He nearly fell two different times before reaching the doors. These doors were different from the other ones. They weren't oak so they lacked the windows that helped him so much earlier. Dream had no idea what he was going to be walking into. Voices in his head whispered that this was all his fault and they’d be afraid of him. He forced them to the back of his head but he knew they were true. He took a deep breath and pushed the door open. His eye landed on Sapnap first. The 19 year old’s torso was fully wrapped with bandages that were shown off completely because he wasn’t wearing a shirt. There were a few band aids on his face as well and the top of his right arm was also wrapped with bandages. He was sitting on the edge of Tommy’s bed with a fan of cards in his hand. He looked like he was deep in thought. His eye moved over to Tommy. Much to his surprise the boy was awake and sitting up. He also had bandages along his torso going up his neck. Almost his whole left arm and some of his right had bandages as well. His left hand also held a fan of cards but unlike Sapnap he had a smirk on his face.

“Told you I was better at cards,” bragged Tommy. Sapnap looked up at him and grunted.

“Oh fuck you,” said Sapnap with no real malice. Dream stood still in the door frame. He felt tears come to his eyes.Tommy was laughing and his eye just so happened to look towards the door. He stopped laughing immediately. He and Dream made eye contact and Dream immediately tensed. Sapnap looked up at Tommy who had suddenly gone quiet.

“Tommy?” asked Sapnap. Sap followed Tommy’s gaze, his own eyes landing on Dream. Both of their eyes were wide. Dream felt tears run down his right cheek. He wiped at his face.

“I-I’m sorry” mumbled Dream. Overwhelming guilt took over him and he blamed himself for everything. It was his fault they were hurt. It was his fault. It was all HIS fault. He scrubbed at his face furiously knocking his mask off in the process. He coughed as his breath got caught in his throat. The voices in his head came back and began chatting, ‘YOUR FAULT” over and over.

“I-i’m so f-f-fucking sorry!” rasped Dream as he sunk to his knees. He suddenly felt an arm around his back. A hand found its way to the back of his head and gently pulled him closer. Dream’s eye shot open and saw that Sapnap was holding him close. 

“Shhh it’s not your fault Dream. None of this is.” whispered Sapnap. Dream stared at the ground before burying his head in Sapnap’s shoulder and hugged him back careful not to hurt him.

“It’s okay, Dream. It’s okay. You didn’t do anything wrong.” whispered Sapnap. Dream cried harder at the thought of stabbing Slayer. How was that not wrong?! After a few minutes of sobbing and a Sapnap whispering forgiving words he quieted to only sniffles. He lifted his head to see Tommy. He was still on his bed and he was looking away from him and Sapnap. Dream sniffed and gently pulled away from Sapnap. He looked at Tommy then back at Sapnap with sad eyes. Sapnap leaned in.

“He blames himself for you getting hurt. He told me that he let you go that night after you got out,” explained Sapnap. Dream looked towards the boy. Sapnap helped him stand back up and he used the crutches to get to Tommy’s bed and sat down next to him. Dream remembered that Tommy blamed himself for Dream getting hurt, he remembered when he said that to him after he took that fatal blow. No matter what Dream couldn’t let Tommy live thinking that. He was about to speak before Tommy lunged at him and wrapped his arms around his torso clutching onto Dream’s t-shirt. Dream bit his own tongue to stop himself from crying out as every injury on his torso felt like it was on fire now. Dream could feel Tommy’s body move every time he let out a shaky breath. Dream felt his tears return and he wrapped his own arms around him. Tommy was mumbling things into Dream’s chest that sounded like sorries. Dream swallowed. 

“It wasn’t your fault Tommy,” whispered Dream. Tommy froze at his words for a second before his shaking returned. He shook his head, disagreeing with Dream. Dream pulled Tommy away from him and put his hands on his shoulders. Tommy was looking down at the bed avoiding Dream’s gaze. 

“Tommy. Look at me. Please.” said Dream. Tommy sniffled and glanced up at Dream who was offering him a small smile. 

“Please Tommy. It wasn’t your fault. It never was. I made the choices I did and if anything I should be the one apologizing. All of you got hurt because I was too weak to stop him the first time. So please Tommy, PLEASE, don’t blame yourself for this. That unnecessary guilt will eat at you forever.” whispered Dream. 

“Y-you almost died,” mumbled Tommy. He wiped his face to rid it of the tears there but new ones replaced them almost immediately. Dream placed a hand on his cheek. 

“And you saved me,” answered Dream as he wiped away Tommy’s tears with his thumb.

“You did Tommy. He’d be dead without you,” agreed Sapnap. Dream often forgot that Tommy was only 16 since he was rather mature for his age. It was very rare to see such a vulnerable side of Tommy. Tommy wiped his face again and sniffed. Dream smiled at him with tears in his eyes. Sapnap got on the bed and leaned against the backboard. Dream leaned back until he was next to Spanap and put an arm behind him. He was exhausted to be honest, all the running around in his condition wasn’t good for staying awake. Tommy stayed sitting on the edge of the bed and Dream raised an eyebrow. He grabbed Tommy’s arm and pulled him gently next to him. 

“What the f-” started Tommy but Dream cut him off.

“Shut it, we all need a hug right now.” said Dream with a chuckle. Tommy grunted before letting his body relax and Dream put an arm around Tommy’s back. Sapnap turned on his side and wrapped his arms around Dream’s waist. The three laid there in silence, until Dream felt Tommy’s head on his shoulder and soon enough soft snores were coming from him. Dream smiled at the sight. Sapnap yawned and closed his eyes, laying his head on Dream’s chest after scooting down still hugging his waist. Dream ran his fingers through his hair and Sapnap fell asleep too. A tear fell down Dream’s cheek and he smiled. It was a genuine smile, he was happy. He rested his head on Tommy’s and closed his eyes letting exhaustion take over. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope it was good! 
> 
> I knew I had to get Dream and Tommy to talk obviously but then the thought of adding Sap popped up and well yeah lol
> 
> Also i have an idea i'll post later that has to do with this story so be sure to check later!
> 
> Also pt.2: I have a new fanfic I'm working on! I only have 2 chapters out right now but I think some of u guys will like it :)))   
> Be sure to check it out if you have time! 
> 
> Word Count: 2275 (i think this is my longest chapter, pog!)


	19. Explanation

Hey guys,

I’m so unbelievably sorry about the lack of chapter updates for both my stories. I have the next chapters for both stories almost done but I can’t finish them right now. Last night my chromebook fell and the screen cracked making it unusable. All I have to do is buy a new screen and swap it with the old one but the new screen could take at least 3 to 5 days to get here. I’m so sorry about this guys. I’m going to try to write on my phone but that’s so hard sometimes but i really need to work on a new chapter. Please be patient with it all. I’m sorry for the inconvenience guys. I really am. I’ll post twice on Gotta Protect the people I care about after it’s fixed to make it up to us guys. 

I’m really sorry. I get waiting is a bitch but please be patient. Don’t leave bc I haven’t updated. I promise the next chapters will be worth it! So please stay and I’ll make sure I hit y’all right in the feels :)

Sorry again,

Ash :)


	20. Aftermath pt.2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> IT'S OUT!!
> 
> GOT MY COMPUTER SCREEN TODAY!! I MISSED YOU ALL SO MUCH MAN ;u;
> 
> also guys clarification!! REALLY IMPORTANT: Thee events took place a few hours after Dream went and found Tommy and Sap! so Tommy, sap, and dream have been together for at least 2 hours. Bad didn't want anyone to wake them up or be loud so he prohibited visiting until they got some rest.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> omg guys! My computer screen finally arrived! Im so fuckin happy right now holy shit-
> 
> Anyway, Thank you all so much for the support! I read all the comments from my "Explanation" thing and you all made me so happy :)  
> Sorry i didn't respond to them i just don't like doing stuff like that on my phone bc its annoying haha  
> annd tbh just thank you for the endless support I've received over the course of this book. This book legit would not exist if it wasn't for u guys. Thank you so much. You are all so nice and supportive and your comments make me so happy especially if I've had a bad day. Thank you all. Thank you! :))))))

George sat in a chair by himself, the rest of his friends next to someone. They were speaking but George wasn’t paying attention. He was staring into nothing. He wanted his friends. Sap and Dream. He wanted to cuddle with them like they did when one of them got stressed. He wanted them to hug him and he wanted them to hug him back. He wanted Dream to run his fingers through his hair like he did for Dream when he was stressed. He wanted Sapnap to tell him everything would be okay. He wanted them, but they were both hurt. Tears came to his eyes. He very vividly remembered helping Dream with his injuries after he passed out. 

  
  


_ George watched Dream’s bloodied form fall to the ground. He ran towards him immediately and collapsed next to him. George looked at Dream, a look of pure horror on his face. Dream’s face was covered in blood from the cut on his eye and the dry blood from earlier in the fight. He had small cuts on his face. George could see the red liquid on the ground from the stab wound on his side and he grabbed his second shirt and pulled it off, applying pressure to the wound.  _

_ “No, no, no, you don’t get to leave now you fucker.” mumbled George, tears falling down his cheeks. The wound on his leg was also spilling blood but he couldn’t apply pressure to both. Another figure crouched down near his leg wound. It was Bad, he looked at Dream with eyes full of fear. George could’ve sworn he heard Bad mumble ‘shit’ under his breath. Bad took off his jacket and pressed it onto Dream’s wound making Dream’s body jerk. Bad looked towards Tubbo and Wilbur who were with Tommy. Skeppy had Sapnap on his back walking towards them.  _

_ “TUBBO! KEEP PRESSURE ON TOMMY’S WOUND!” yelled Bad. Tubbo looked up and shouted an ‘okay’ back.  _

_ “George keep doing that okay?” George nodded. Techno crouched down.  _

_ “What can I do.” asked Techno. Bad glanced at the wound on Dream’s eye. He tore part of his jacket and handed it to Techno.  _

_ “Try to stop the bleeding and flush the wound with some water since you have some. We don’t want that getting infected, especially if his eye isn’t damaged.” commanded Bad. Techno nodded. Bad pulled his belt off and handed it to George.  _

_ “Tie the shirt to his wound. You need to see if he wakes up. I need to figure out how bad his other injuries are.” George obliged and pulled the belt tightly around his abdomen. He then moved to Dream’s head. Techno was flushing the wound with his cold water making Dream flinch. Techno moved his hands when he saw George get near him. George was thankful some of the blood was gone but the sight of his friend’s wound made him nauseous. Techno noticed and placed the cloth of Bad’s jacket over his eye. George silently thanked him. He placed a hand on Dream’s cheek. He felt tears fall down his cheeks again.  _

_ “H-hey Dream. You need to- to wake up,” mumbled George. Techno placed a hand on his back. George lightly tapped Dream’s face, getting no response.  _

_ “You need to have more force,” said Techno. George let out a strangled sob. God he was so happy Sapnap wasn’t awake.  _

_ “I don’t w-want to h-hurt him.” stuttered George. Techno sighed. _

_ “I know, let me do it. I wake him up, you talk.” said Techno. George nodded. Techno did what George couldn’t and slapped him, HARD. Dream’s eyes shot open and a strangled cry left his throat after feeling all the pressure on his wounds. He was struggling, trying to fight off the people hurting him. He jerked his leg and Bad nearly fell face first into the snow.  _

_ “Hold him down!” yelled Bad. Techno got hold of his torso, steadying it. _

_ “How is he still so strong?!” yelled Techno. _

_ George grabbed his wrist and pinned them above his head. Dream cried out once again.  _

_ “S-stop! I-it hurts!” screamed Dream. George let out a cry. Bad had tears going down his own face and Techno was barely holding himself together as their friend writhed in agony under them. George hated this. He hated everything.  _

_ “Let me g-go! Please!” Dream’s voice cracked on the please and George bit his lip. He continued to hold Dream’s wrist above his head but he placed a hand on one of Dream’s cheeks.  _

_ “Shh, Dream it’s okay. It’s okay. I know it hurts, but you’re safe now.” whispered George. It took all his willpower to not stutter through that sentence once. He rubbed his thumb over Dream’s cheek. Dream’s struggle was becoming less frantic the longer he rubbed. George saw Dream’s eye crack open and the two made eye contact. George stared into Dream’s dull green eyes. _

_ “G-George it h-hurts.” was all Dream said before passing out once more. _

Someone yelling his name snapped him back into reality. Bad was kneeling in front of him.

“W-what?” stuttered George. 

“I called your name a few times and you didn’t answer then I noticed that your breathing had increased. Are you okay, George?” asked Bae d, a look of concern on his face. George opened his mouth to say yes, that he was fine, but nothing came out. He tired again but he felt tears come to his eyes and a whimper escaped from his mouth. Bad didn’t wait a second longer. He pulled George into a hug. George hugged back, clinging to his sweater. Bad felt the fabric of his shirt become wet. Their friends watched George cry with sad looks. Tubbo stood up and limped over to George, wrapping his arm around him. 

“I almost lost Tommy like how you almost lost Dream and Sap. I understand what you’re going through.” said Tubbo. He looked around at everyone.

“We all do. You’re not alone George.” mumbled Bad. George pulled back and wiped his eyes.

“Sorry…” he mumbled, voice raspy from crying. 

“It’s alright George. It’s not your fault. Your friends were in pain, it only makes sense for you to cry,” said Wilbur with a reassuring smile. George smiled back at them. Techno stood up. 

“Why don’t we go see them?” he asked. Bad stood next. 

“Maybe, it has been a few hours. Tommy and Dream really need their rest so it’d be best to not wake them up. Sapnap may be doing better now but it would be a surprise if he was awake.” said Bad. 

“I think we should. We all just want to see them.” said Skeppy. 

“I agree!” said Tubbo excitedly. Wilbur hummed in agreement.

“George?” asked Bad. George thought back to his last memory of Dream. He was crying, covered in blood and hurt. He didn’t like that memory, in fact he shuddered at it. He looked back towards Bad.

“Yeah. I think it's a good idea.” said George. Bad smiled and offered a hand to him, which George gratefully accepted. He stood up and the group made their way to the door. The walk towards medical was quiet. Skeppy helped Techno walk because of a leg injury. George hugged himself with his arms and Bad stood next to him occasionally putting a hand on his shoulder to comfort him. Wilbur and Tubbo walked next to each other. They approached the door to medical and stopped in front of it. Bad turned to George.

“You wanna go in first?’ asked Bad. George looked to Bad and then towards the door then back at Bad. He nodded and Bad smiled at him and moved out of the way. George stepped forward and opened the door, stepping inside. The room was dark and George saw the curtain Dream was behind. He clutched the front of his shirt and took a deep breath. 

“Stop being a baby George.” he mumbled to himself. George walked slowly toward the curtain and reached the edge. He turned and expected to see his best friends laying there, covered in bandages but instead his eyes landed on an empty bad. His mouth went dry and he felt nauseous. Where the hell was he? George immediately turned around and rushed towards the door, nearly hitting Wilbur when he slammed the door open. His friend’s looked at him with worried glances. 

“What’s wrong?” asked Tubbo. George’s brown eyes were filled with fear putting all of his friends on edge.

“He’s gone.” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There we go! New chapter is out fuckers! 
> 
> and there should be another one out really soon! I had to write it traditionally at school today so I have to type it up. :((((
> 
> I hate traditional writing btw
> 
> Thank you so much for reading! Looking forward to ur comments! :DDD
> 
> Word Count: 1412


	21. Aftermath pt.3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> back at it with another update!
> 
> a little fluff then angst then hurt/comfort hehe

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> there's a timeskip between the first part and the 2nd one. It's marked juts be sure to see it or it'll be confusing :)
> 
> hope u like it hehe

(This happened before their friends went to go see them. About an hour before actually. There’s another timeskip, i’ll note it)

Dream awoke with a small jolt. His brain was fuzzy. He attempted to move but felt a weight on his right arm and waist. He turned his head to the side and his eye landed on a head of blond hair. He finally remembered everything, including Tommy and Sapnap falling asleep on him. He smiled at them. 

“Love you guys,” he whispered, petting Sap’s hair gently. Sapnap shifted startling him and made him jump. Sap looked towards him.

“Love you too,” responded Sapanp. Dream let out a chuckle. Tommy spoke next. 

“Fucking finally. Took you forever to wake up.” grumbled Tommy. Dream grinned.

“Hi Tomathy.” said Dream. Tommy had his eyes closed but he opened them so he could glare at Dream. Dream was going to speak again before a thought crossed his mind. How long had they been awake???

“How long have you guys been awake?” asked Dream. 

“Eh, maybe an hour or so,” answered Tommy. Dream’s face had a hint of red, suddenly feeling embarrassed. 

“Why didn’t you wake me up??” asked a flustered Dream. 

“Because you looked tired and I’m always down for some cuddling.” answered Sapnap with a smirk. 

“Yeah those bags under your eyes are pretty… prominent.” said Tommy. Dream rolled his eyes.

“Yeah and the one’s under your eyes are too.” remarked Dream. Tommy huffed and looked away. The 16 year old moved away from Dream’s side, making him shiver at the lack of warmth. Tommy winced, the movements agitating his wound. He stood up and let out a yawn. Dream lifted up his arm and pain shot through it. He pulled it towards him quickly and cursed quietly under his breath. Both Tommy and Sapnap turned to him. 

“You okay?” asked Sap. Dream’s eyes were screwed shut from the pain but he nodded anyway. 

“You sure Big man? Your face says otherwise.” said Tommy. Dream smiled at them and took a deep breath. 

“Yeah I’m good.” reassured Dream. Sap sat on the edge of the bed. 

“How’s that eye though?” asked Tommy. Dream shrugged and dragged a finger across the bandages. 

“I don’t know. I haven’t really thought about it.” answered Dream. Sapnap shot up.

“Maybe it healed already! I was in and out of consciousness on the way here and I heard Bad say something about the healing potions being enough to heal it.” said Sapnap. 

Dream started at him before picking at the eye patch and the bandages surrounding it. They completely obscured the wound so he honestly had no idea if it was healed. It didn’t hurt so that was a good sign.

“Maybe I can take them off?” siad Dream. 

“I don’t see why not,” said Tommy. Dream reached behind his hair and ripped the bandages. He carefully pulled them from his face along with the eye patch. Cold air hit the skin there. He looked back towards his friends; they were both looking at his closed eye. He felt himself get slightly red when they continued staring.

“Uh, does it look bad or something?” he asked nervously. Tommy blinked and Dream could swear he saw stars in his eyes.

“Yo that’s cool as hell!!” exclaimed the 16 year old. Dream backed up slightly at the loudness of his voice.   
“Holy shit that's awesome!” agreed Sap. Dream looked at them both in confusion before Sapnap got up and grabbed a mirror. He walked back over and put the mirror in front of Dream’s face. Dream stared at the long scar going through his eye in shock. He didn’t think it’d scar. He took the mirror from Sapnap and studied the scar, running his fingers over it.   
“Does- does it look okay?” he asked. 

“Yeah it looks awesome! Healing potions have a tendency to leave scars so it was kinda expected.” answered Tommy. Dream nodded but smiled. 

“Can you open your eye?” asked Sapnap. Dream hadn’t even thought about it honestly. 

“Huh, maybe? I didn’t even think about it,” answered Dream. Tommy motioned for him to try and he slowly cracked open his other eye. He fully opened it and he could see. He could see! Dream touched the area around his eye again. 

“I can see.” said Dream in disbelief. He thought the blade had damaged his eye. 

“Pog!” said Sapnap excitedly. Tommy clapped twice and he was grinning. 

“I just realized how green your eyes are, Dream,” said Tommy. Dream looked towards him. 

“Well it’s not like you’ve really seen my face before,” answered Dream. Tommy rolled his eyes. Dream tried to sit up but there was a spike of pain in his shoulder and he let out a small cry at the sudden pain. Both of his friend’s faces changed to ones of worry.

“You okay?” asked Sapnap. Dream clutched his shoulder and blinked away the tears. 

“Yep. Doing fantastic.” replied Dream, with a smile. 

“Makes sense that you're in pain. Can’t imagine how many bandages you got under that hoodie.” said Sapnap. Dream chuckled and lifted up the front of his hoodie, showcasing his very bruised and bandaged torso. Sapnap and Tommy started at the injuries with wide eyes. Sapnap had passed out from blood loss early in the fight so he was unaware of the severity of his wounds. And Tommy knew they were bad but they looked so much worse than he thought. Dream lowered his hoodie and smiled at them bitterly. 

“I’ve got a lot,” said Dream. Tommy stepped forwards.

“No fucking shit! Where did you get all those bruises from?!” questioned Tommy. Dream was about to answer until he remembered what Slayer did to him. Beating him senseless. Forcing him to heal. Then repeating the process until he was a blubbering mess of tears and blood. He visibly paled at the memories. He saw a hand coming towards him knocking him out of his head. He violently flinched when Sapnap’s hand touched his shoulder.

“It’s okay, Dream. It’s me. You’re safe.” whispered Sapnap with a sad expression. Dream was going to speak, reassure them, but then he realized how out of breath he was. Had he almost had a panic attack by just remembering that? Sapnap began to retract his hand but Dream grabbed his hand and intertwined their fingers. Squeezing.

“Sorry, I shouldn’t have asked.” mumbled Tommy, guilt evident in his voice. Dream looked at the boy and shook his head.

“It’s fine Tommy. You didn’t know.” responded Dream. The room went quiet after that. Dream felt like shit for making it awkward. His eye flickered nervously around the room until he spotted the deck of cards at the bottom of the bed. Dream smiled and leaned forward, ignoring how every injury he had protested at his movement. Sapnap lightly squeezed Dream’s hand. 

“Woah there Dream. Maybe you shouldn’t move around too much.” said Sap. Dream rolled his eyes at his friend’s worry and snatched up the deck. He leaned back, his back hitting the backboard. A sharp gasp came from him and he squeezed Sapnap’s hand tightly. Sapnap rubbed his thumb over the back of his hand trying to help soothe his friend’s pain. Even Tommy put a hand on his shoulder.

“You have no sense of self preservation do you?” said Tommy. Dream cracked his eyes open and chuckled. He cleared his throat and held up the cards with a grin. 

“Wanna play?” asked Dream. The two stared at him. They knew he was trying to change the subject. They both knew he was pushing away the trauma that he’d been through. But even though they both knew, they went along with it wanting to make their friend happy. They could deal with the trauma later. Sapnap and Tommy smirked.

“Oh you’re going to lose. I’m the best at this.” declared Tommy as he popped his knuckles, rejoining them on the bed. Sapnap laughed.

“I’ll admit he is pretty good,” said Sapnap. Dream smirked.

“But I’m better.” remarked Dream smugly. Tommy gave an unimpressed laugh. 

“Let’s go then,” said Tommy. Dream smirked and placed the first card.

(timeskip an hour)

“What do you mean he’s fucking gone?!” asked Wilbur. George turned to him.

“I mean he’s fucking gone!” yelled George. Bad pushed through the two and looked behind the curtain revealing the empty bed to everyone. 

“Where the hell could he have gone?” asked Skeppy. Techno stared at the bed with wide eyes before speaking.

“The real question is how can he even move?” questioned Techno. Bad ran around the room frantically going through cabinets. He finally found the one he was looking for and dug through it pulling out 2 healing potions. 

“This is all we have left. We really need to find him. He could be hurt.” said Bad. His voice was shaky as he tried to remain calm. Everyone nodded. 

“Where did he go though? This place is literally massive.” said Skeppy. 

“Maybe the green room? He always liked sitting in there whenever we’d come down here.” suggested George.

“That’s a possibility.” said Bad.

“We should go check instead of standing here,” said Techno. They all agreed and hurriedly made their way towards the green room. They reached the iron door and Wilbur pulled the lever opening them. Cool air hit them, the sounds of running water filled their ears. The group stepped inside onto the grass. A fish jumped out of the pond in the middle of the room. 

“Dream!” yelled George. No answer.

“Dream!!” screamed Wilbur. Suddenly a bush a few feet away moved. They all turned towards it. The leaves continued to rustle.

“Dream is that you?” asked Bad. George made his way over to the bush. He parted the leaves with his hands and nearly fell backwards when a rabbit jumped out at him. 

“AH!” he screamed. The rabbit landed behind the now disheveled man and quickly hopped away. George who was very red stomped back over to his giggling friends. 

I’m gonna kill Dream when we find him,” grumbled George. Skeppy, who was already laughing, laughed harder. Tubbo was snickering and he suddenly stopped when an idea popped into his head. 

“Wait guys.” said Tubbo. They turned to the boy. 

“I think I have an idea of where Dream could be.” said Tubbo. George stepped forwards.

“Where?” he asked.

We’re stupid, how did we not think of this first!? Dream got hurt really badly right? But so did Tommy and Sapnap. They weren’t in the room with him which probably gave him the wrong idea, which probably means that he went to go find them!” said Tubbo. Bad’s eyes widened.

“Holy muffin! That’s true!” exclaimed Bad.

“He fought a fucking murderer for us, why did we not even think about that??” said Wilbur. 

“Doesn’t matter! He’s probably in storage then! So let’s go!” said George as he ran out the room. The group ran through the halls of the bunker. George was ahead due to his early start. He read the sign that said storage and made a sharp left running down the dimly lit hallway. He nearly tripped giving the others enough time to catch up. He coughed and continued running. The doors to storage came into view. He was nervous. What if Dream wasn’t there? What if he was hurt? He shook his head trying to push all his worries to the side. He stopped in front of the door and opened it. The entire group stared into the room with blank expressions. There sitting on one of the bed’s were Tommy, Sapnap and Dream playing what looked to be Uno. 

“HA! Uno bitches!” yelled Sapnap as he threw down a card. Tommy and Dream groaned. The 3 hadn’t seen the others in the doorway yet. George felt relieved that they were all okay, especially Dream. He also felt quite annoyed and by the looks on everyone else’s faces they felt the same.

“What the FUCK.” said George. Tommy, Dream and Sapnap jumped at the sudden new voice and turned to it. George was staring Dream down and he chuckled nervously.

“H-hi…?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Eyyyy back to present time dear readers lol
> 
> I hope u liked it! Im on a writing streak since I finally have my computer back hehe
> 
> Please leave comments and kudos if it's not a problem! They're a big help!
> 
> -Ash :)
> 
> Word Count: 2024


	22. Aftermath pt.4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Heya guys! I'm updating earlier than usual! Yay 
> 
> It's a hellva lot longer than my other chapters btw-
> 
> Word Count: 3954 
> 
> Pog! Thats so many words lol

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay guys, imma be completely honest
> 
> I struggled with this one which is rare for me. I felt liek it could've been way better since i know a lot of you were looking forward to this on haha
> 
> Anyway I hope its still good and enjoyable! :)
> 
> Thanks for reading :)

“H-hi…?” stuttered Dream. Sudden anxiety washed over him as soon as George started staring him down. He looked pissed and Dream didn’t like it AT ALL. For fucks sake they all looked pissed. Were they mad at him? Why though? Is it because of what he did? The horrible thing he did? He felt himself squeeze the bed sheets so tightly his knuckles were turning white. Tommy and Sapnap glanced at him when they noticed him gripping the sheets and his slight shaking. Sapanp discreetly moved his free hand towards Dream’s hand and placed his hand on it. Dream flinched slightly but didn’t move away from the contact. The panic inside of Dream rose when George made his way over to the bed. His eyes darted nervously around the room looking for a way to escape. George’s face became neutral as he continued towards his friend. Tommy noticed that he was about to move and attempted to grab his shoulder but he was too late because Dream got off the bed. He stood there, frozen. Fear evident in his green eyes. He couldn’t move. The situation was too similar. He hated it. He felt like a cornered animal. He felt like this when Slayer walked towards him as he bled on the ground clutching his eye. He squeezed his eyes shut and hugged himself. George, who hadn’t even been angry or annoyed anymore noticed his friend’s panicked state and his face changed to one of worry. He ran forwards. Dream was still standing there and he suddenly felt arms around the back of his neck. His eyes shot open and he flinched and looked down. George was on his tippy toes hugging him with the force of a bear. The hug itself felt contristicing, but it also gave Dream the same feeling he had when Sap hugged him. Relief and safety. George pulled away when he noticed that Dream’s tremors had basically stopped and stared at his friend’s face. The long scar going through his left eye. Dream saw George reach up and he flinched slightly. George placed a hand on Dream’s freckled cheek, rubbing his thumb over the bottom of the scar. Dream watched George smile at him, a tear running down one of George’s cheeks.

“I'm so glad you're okay….” whispered George. A sudden wave of mixed emotions hit Dream and he pulled George into a bone crushing hug. George yelped but smiled at him. 

“I missed you.” mumbled Dream. 

“You too.” responded George. The two heard a grunt beside them and turned to Sapnap who was sitting on the bed, back hunched and pouting. 

“Where’s my hug?” grumbled Sapnap. His joke earned a laugh from Dream and George rolled his eyes but pulled Sapnap into a hug that he quickly melted into. 

“I’m glad you're okay too Sap,” said George. Sapnap responded with a hum. Tommy, who had watched the whole interaction with a smile turned towards the door. His eyes landed on Tubbo and Wilbur staring at him with tears in his eyes and smiles. He felt his own tears come to his eyes. He wanted to go hug his friends but couldn’t help but feel an overwhelming sense of guilt. He made them worried. He scared the shit out of them. He hadn’t felt these feelings until just now. Dream noticed the boy's eyebrows furrow and he placed a hand on his shoulder. He gave Tommy a look that said ‘go to them’ and before he knew it Tommy was already off the bed. He ran towards his friends and they ran towards him. The three of them met in the middle and hugged. Tommy gripped the back of their shirts and they did the same. They pulled back and Tommy wiped his tears away. 

“You’re so fucking reckless,” joked Wilbur. Tommy laughed. 

“Did you just figure that out?” asked Tubbo with a smile. The 3 laughed and Tommy lightly punched Tubbo’s shoulder. Dream smiled fondly at the reunion. Bad made his way over to Dream. He stopped a few feet away. Dream smiled at him and invited him in for a hug that Bad immediately took. The hug agitated his wounds but he ignored it and Bad was being significantly softer than George was.

“I- I-” stuttered Bad through tears. He couldn’t find the right words and his sharp breaths weren’t helping. Dream shushed him.

“It’s okay, Bad. I know what you mean.” said Dream. Bad pulled away and wiped his tears. Bad turned to his side and pulled Sapnap into a hug. Dream smiled and decided to limp towards his other friends. George let him put his hand on his shoulder for balance. 

“Your height makes this significantly easier,” said Dream with a smirk. George huffed.

“I’m average height.” grumbled George. Dream cackled. Wilbur’s group noticed them and they turned towards the duo. Tubbo stepped forwards first and gave Dream a smile. Tubbo was unsure about hugging him honestly. He didn’t want to hurt the man but he was also nervous because he and Dream had honestly never been too close. Yeah they were friends but he wasn’t as close as Sap or George. He didn't want to cross any boundaries by hugging him now.

“I’m glad yo-” started Tubbo but Dream pulled him into a hug and made him stop speaking. It was a quick hug, Dream pulled away rather quickly as to not make the boy uncomfortable but was pleasantly surprised when Tubbo wrapped his arms around his torso. He smiled and hugged him back. Dream pulled away and ruffled his hair. 

“Thanks Tubbo.” said Dream. Tubbo smiled brightly at the older male. Dream noticed a tall figure a few feet away. Wilbur stood there, arms crossed but not in an annoyed way. He looked nervous, and the hair that normally hung on his face was covering more than usual because of his tilted head. They were in an awkward place with each other. Wilbur was by far the most unsupportive of his choices, that much was obvious. And Dream wasn’t any better when he tried to talk to Wilbur. They both were filled with anger and made bad choices. Wilbur punched him, Dream kicked him, they argued. The two accidentally made eye contact and looked away quickly. Dream didn’t know if he was mad and Wilbur had the same thought. Tommy noticed the tension and lightly shoved Dream towards him. Dream nearly tripped and he glared at Tommy with no real malice but Tommy still mouthed sorry. 

“Come on, make up already. You know you aren’t mad at each other.” said Tommy with an annoyed face. Wilbur sighed and unfolded his arms. He stepped forward and scratched the back of his neck sheepishly. He glanced at the man in front of him, eyes lingering on Dream’s scar. 

“Dream I’m sorry.” said Wilbur. Dream looked towards him. 

“I shouldn’t have handled that so, immaturely. I was just so angry that you were being so reckless.” confessed Wilbur. Dream fiddled with the bandage under his sleeve. 

“It’s fine Wilbur. I get why you were mad. We both handled it the wrong way so you’re not the only one at fault here. Even under all that anger I could see how worried you were about me. I’m sorry. We’re both at fault so don’t blame yourself okay?” said Dream. He smiled at Wilbur and held his hand out.

“We good?” he asked. Wilbur looked at Dream then at his hand. He smiled and took Dream’s hand.

“We’re good,” responded Wilbur. The two went in and hugged. They pulled away when Skeppy and Techno joined them in the middle of the room. Tommy smiled.

“Big man! I was wondering where you were at.” said Tommy. Techno looked at him.

“Standing in the doorway awkwardly with Skeppy.” answered Techno. The remark got the room chuckling. 

“It’s good to see your okay Skeppy,” said Dream. Skeppy hummed. 

“You too Dream but we really need to have a conversation about your willingness to die for one of us,” joked Skeppy. Dream grinned and Tommy scoffed. 

“You got that right,” answered Tommy. 

“You too, you little gremlin.” said Wilbur to Tommy. Dream had to hold back a wheeze, not wanting to make his ribs hurt more than they already did. Dream turned to Techno. 

“How’s your leg?” he asked. Techno looked down at his bandaged leg. He shrugged.

“Better than it looks. How’s the eye?” Dream ran his fingers over the scarred skin. 

“Not bad, according to Tommy it looks cool.” answered Dream. Techno snorted.

“I can agree with Tommy on that one, it does look cool.” said Techno. Dream laughed. Techno rolled up his sleeves, showcasing his scars from many years of Bedwars and Skywars.

“Welcome to the scar club.” said the pig hybrid. Dream grinned and put an arm around Techno shoulders. Sapnap and Tommy came up next to Dream. 

“I’m in it too! When this shit fully heals I’ll have a badass scar,” exclaimed Tommy.

“Mine are already mostly healed and they look cool as hell,” said Sapnap smugly. George rolled his eyes playfully. 

“Sure they do,” remarked George. Sapnap turned to him. 

“You’re just jealous,” said Sapnap with a huff. Dream stood silently listening to their back and forth about scars. He didn’t like it. They were debating over scars that were caused by him. He suddenly felt overwhelming guilt that made his vision swim. He stumbled backwards, Wilbur grabbing his arm was the only thing that prevented him from falling. He jerked his arm away at the sudden contact. He could see all his friend’s looking at him with worried expressions. 

“Are you alright, Dream?” asked Wilbur. Dream opened his mouth but no words came out. He didn’t know what to say. All of the sudden emotions consumed any rational thought preventing him from forming words. Guilt rained down on him without mercy and suddenly hot tears were rolling down his cheeks. 

“Woah woah Dream, what’s wrong,” asked Sapnap. He walked forwards and tried to touch Dream but the blond flinched when their skin met and jerked away. He covered his mouth with his hand. 

“I’m- s-sorry,” he stuttered out. 

“No, no you’re okay. What happened?” asked George. He cautiously reached for him and surprisingly Dream didn’t move away but stared at it with such fear that George moved his hand away.

“You all s-started talking about the scars and all I c-could think about w-was how it was m-my fault you got h-hurt,” mumbled Dream. His nails dug into his arms but the hoodie protected his skin but there’d definitely be bruises. The others didn’t know what to do because every move made Dream’s eyes lock on whatever moved or he flinched or moved away. Techno looked at his friends and sighed. He’d seen the truma from battle before, while Dream’s was a special case since he could’ve actually died that wasn’t the problem here. He was scared of how the others would react. He was scared they’d be mad and that’s all his mind is saying. Techno had been in a similar situation a few years ago and he overcame it which meant Dream could too. But all the caution his friends had wasn’t going to help. Techno stepped forward and placed a hand on Dream’s shoulder. Dream flinched immediately and tried to move away but Techno grabbed his other shoulder. This time Dream couldn’t get away and he cried out, trying to push Techno away. George felt himself get angry.

“What are you doing?! Can't you see he’s terrified?!” yelled George. Techno continued to keep his hold on Dream. Techno watched as Dream flinched away from the loud voice. 

“Your yelling isn't helping either,” said Techno. Tommy was about to speak next but the cold, threatening glare Techno gave him was enough to shut him up. Techno sighed and put all his focus on his writhing friend. 

“Dream. Listen to me. You’re safe. No one here is going to hurt you and no one here is mad.” whispered Techno, voice soft. The softness of his voice surprised everyone in the room except for Wilbur. Dream’s struggling and lessened but it looked more like he was giving up instead of thinking he was safe. Not what he wanted but he was being rather rough, and hey it was getting him somewhere. Techno took a deep breath and pulled Dream into a hug. Dream stopped moving when he was fully in the embrace. He stared with wide eyes at the pig hybrid. Dream had been rather scared but something about this hug felt different. Despite the force it used to get him into it, it felt nice, he couldn’t really explain it. He stood there for a moment before wrapping his own arms around Tcehno’s back and burying his face in his neck. Techno internally cheered, he was honestly scared he’d been too rough with him but it seemed Dream trusted him so he spoke. 

“It wasn’t your fault Dream. It’s his. He hurt us, not you. We aren’t blaming this on you because it wasn’t you. It was him. Okay?” Dream didn’t move for a few seconds. Everyone in the room watched in awe. Techno, of all people, managed to calm him down. Now they all watched with hope that Dream would agree that it wasn’t his fault. Dream didn’t move. Techno made eye contact with everyone in the room. He wanted them to agree, say it wasn’t his fault. Dream was unstable, he needed reassurance and the people in the room were the only people who could give it to them. He cursed internally when the others remained silent but to his surprise Dream nodded. He looked at the man clutching his shirt and sighed. Dream let go and pulled back. He looked like shit. The bags under his eyes were more prominent than they were before, his eyes were bloodshot from the crying and his face was flushed. He was also shaking, small tremors moving up and down. Despite his current appearance he looked up at Techno and gave him a small smile. 

“T-thanks,” he sniffed. Techno nodded. 

“It wasn’t a problem.” said Techno. He offered Dream a smile which Dream returned, it was a small, sad smile full of self pity and bitterness. Dream’s leg was really starting to hurt since he let go of George’s shoulder. He looked back towards the bed and turned to it. Techno came up from behind and helped him to it. The others followed quietly behind. Dream got on and leaned against the backboard gently to not mess with his wounds. Sapnap took back his spot on the bed, he made sure to not touch Dream when he noticed the blonde eyeing his knee that was close to him. Tommy sat at the edge of the bed and everyone else sat on the edges of the other bed or remained standing. Dream leaned his head back and closed his eyes. He felt like shit. He didn’t think it’d affect him this much. How long would this affect the way he saw things like physical contact? How long would he flinch when someone went to comfort him? He didn’t want to think about it but he had a question for them.

“Do you think I made the right choice?” he asked suddenly, making a few people jump. Bad looked at him.

“What do you mean?” he asked. Dream looked at Bad with tired, dull green eyes. 

“When I dug my knife into his chest, killing him.” answered Dream. The group tensed at his words. It was a topic everyone there wished to avoid. They knew they couldn’t but they couldn’t help wishing it never came up. 

“Ya know, when I slaughtered someone.” said Dream bitterly. Dream was getting slightly annoyed when he didn’t get any answers and whenever he looked at someone they looked away. He knew they all wanted to avoid this topic. He continued looking around, eyes landing on Tommy. Tommy stared into them. The two continued their eye contact until Tommy spoke. 

“Why did you kill him? What was going through your head,” asked the boy. Dream tensed at the question. He thought back to when he did it. He didn’t feel anything until it was done. He was fueled by hate and what he only assumed to be sadness. 

“I don’t know. I saw you get hurt and I pulled off my hoodie,” Dream stopped to take a deep breath. He saw Techno nod, telling him without words to continue and that this would help. 

“I tried to put pressure on the wound, you screamed,” Dream could feel himself getting worked up again. He really thought Tommy was going to die then. 

“I a-asked you why and you told me that it was y-your fault because you let me l-leave,” stuttered Dream.

“Deep breaths Dream. It’s okay, just make sure to take deep breaths.” said Techno. He placed a comforting hand on Dream’s shoulder and Dream didn’t flinch, in fact he reached up and grabbed his hand. Everyone glanced at Tommy when Dream said the last of that sentence. Wilbur stared especially hard at the boy. Let him leave? Dream took a deep breath. 

“I told you it wasn’t your fault, and then Tubbo came and someone started applying pressure to your wound. I could t-tell people were talking to me, but I couldn’t hear anything. I f-felt something in me s-snap and then,” Dream inhaled sharply and gripped Tehno’s hand so hard the pig hybrid nearly let out a cry. Dream opened his mouth to finish but he couldn’t form words. He had maintained eye contact with Tommy through the whole thing but he finally broke it out of shame and looked down at his lap. He shook his head telling everyone that he wasn’t going to finish. Sapnap moved closer, seeing this as an opportunity and put a hand on his back, rubbing circles into it. Dream didn’t flinch and surprisingly leaned into the touch. 

“I d-didn’t want to,” mumbled Dream. He was trying to hold back tears. 

“We know you didn’t Dream, it’s okay.” whispered George from behind. The groups let out hums showing they agreed. Dream finally managed to get himself under control. He hated this. The whole room had gone silent besides a few sniffs from him. He hated that this affected him so much. He hated how this whole thing would affect his friends too. Dream noticed the cards in the middle of the bed. He wished they could just go back to playing cards. They were happy. He wanted them all to be happy but they were just here comforting him. He didn't deserve the comfort he was getting. Tommy and Sapnap deserved it more. He killed someone. They almost died protecting a murderer. Slayer was right, he did win. He was right about the nightmares that would plague his dreams and his friends' dreams. Dream may have killed him but Slayer won and that was the undeniable truth. He closed his eyes at the thought and shoved his other hand into his pocket. He felt something in it when he did. A piece of paper, a card. He pulled it out and looked at it. He didn’t like the current mood of the room. His feelings didn’t matter right now. Everyone there looked so sad and he didn’t like it. He didn’t want to be the cause of anymore pain. So he looked at the card and smiled. It was Dream’s turn now since Sap went last. He was going to fix this even if it meant ignoring the feelings the situation gave him.

“Hey Sap.” said Dream. Sapnap looked at him. 

“Yeah?” asked Sapnap. Dream smirked and placed the card on the pile. It was a uno reverse card. Sapnap raised an eyebrow in confusion. The room started at him with looks of confusion. 

“Uno,” said Dream. Sapanp and Tommy got it immediately. Dream was doing the same thing he did last time. He was pushing away the feelings to make the others happy and get the attention off him. They knew it and the others would figure it out. Sapnap smirked. 

“You just gave the turn back to me dumbass, it's my win.” said Sap as he pulled his final card from his pocket. Dream chuckled and glanced at Tommy showing him his card. Tommy smirked too. 

“Like hell it is  _ Snapmap,” _ said George from behind Dream after looking at Dream’s card. Tommy laughed loudly. And Dream placed his final card down. 

“Draw four bitch,” said Dream. Sapnap stared at the card in disbelief. The group laughed at his face. 

“WHAT THE HELL?! How do you always win?!” yelled Sapnap. Dream felt himself edge closer and closer to laughing. Techno was stifling his laughter from behind. Skeppy was leaning all over Bad, absolutely dying. Bad himself was giggling and keeping Skeppy off the floor. Tommy and Tubbo were laughing wildly next to each other while Wilbur had to sit on the edge of the bed because the laughter made his knees go weak. George was giggling behind him and teasing Sapnap who was now sitting with his arms crossed and an annoyed face. Dream was unable to stifle his laughter any longer after Sapnap called George a twink. His well known wheeze filled the room making George and Sapnap laugh harder. Dream lungs hurt like hell but he had managed to cause something other than pain and that was all he cared about. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There ya go haha
> 
> We're getting close to the end of the main story and then alternate endings ofc! Im excited to write those bc they are going to be PAINFUL. ;)
> 
> Also guyyyyys do you want like any one shots related to this story? I've really gotten attached to this and don't wanna stop writing stuff for it AND I've had a great oneshot idea since like the 6th chapter lol. Let me know what you think! :D
> 
> I hope you liked it! Only a few more chapters left mates! Thank you to all of you that have stuck around until this point! :)


	23. Aftermath pt.5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Just some fluff with some light angst :)))))

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Second to final chapter!! (I think!)
> 
> I finally got to put some techno and dream friendship :) Very happy bout that and one of my oneshots might be techno and dream bonding :)
> 
> Hope u like it! :D
> 
> Also little side note, Im not shipping techno and dream in this they're just friends so dont get the wrong idea :)

“So that’s how you got out,” said Wilbur in disbelief. Dream just finished explaining how he’d gotten out of the cell after Skeppy asked. He chuckled. 

“Yeah, fucked up my fingers tho,” replied Dream. He rubbed the tip of his fingers together where there were small scars from the screw. Sapnap groaned. 

“I swear you’re too smart, it’s bullshit,” grumbled Sapnap. 

“Language!” yelled Bad. Dream laughed. The group had settled down after the uno game and were now just chilling. They moved from the storage room to the green room, it was Dream’s choice. Now they all sat on the ground, some sat on rocks. Dream himself was propped up against a tree. His normal spot was on one of the tree's limbs but the whole group agreed that he shouldn’t be climbing any trees right now despite his many protests. They all just started talking. Most topics were about random things until Skeppy asked him how he managed to get out. 

“How’d you even know to do that?” asked Tubbo. Dream shrugged.

“I’ve always played around with things like that, learned it from Illumina actually.” said Dream.  
“That’s so cool,” said Tommy. Despite letting Dream leave he actually had no idea how he’d gotten out of the cell. Dream smiled. They all talked about random things, they joked and teased each other. It felt like how it felt back then. Dream still noticed the worried glances he’d get from George or Bad every now and then but it was better this way. Dream ran his finger through the grass as the others chattered between themselves. He picked up the apple next to him and took a bite of it. He watched all of them socialize with a smile on his face. As his green eyes scanned over their faces he noticed Wilbur. He looked deep in thought and he kept glancing at Tommy every now and then. Dream raised an eyebrow and cleared his throat. 

“Something wrong Wilbur?” he asked. The group noticed Dream speak and turned to him. Wilbur looked at Dream before glancing back at Tommy. He sighed.

“I have a question.” said Wilbur. He completely turned to Tommy.

“When Dream was… explaining what happened he said that you let him leave. What… What did he mean by that?” asked Wilbur. Tommy’s eyes widened and he looked away. Dream watched the two. Tommy scratched his neck. 

‘Well, uh, he climbed out of the window down there and I saw him,” explained Tommy. He swallowed nervously.

“I just sorta let him leave I guess. Knew I couldn’t do shit to stop him,” finished Tommy. Wilbur nodded and sighed. 

“Why did you let him go?” asked George. Something inside George felt betrayed honestly. Tommy had let him go and why? Tommy’s never been one to not try something just because he didn’t think he could do it. And with what was on the line then it didn’t make any sense. Tommy looked at the ground for a moment before answering, looking George straight in the eyes.

“Because he made a promise that he’d win. A promise I never thought he would break and I was right,” said Tommy sternly. He wasn’t the only one in the room who picked up on the shift in George’s attitude. He was sitting hunched over until Tommy said he let him go. After those words his back had completely straightened and his voice had the smallest hint of anger when he asked why. George kept his gaze on Tommy. He had an immense urge to blame Tommy but he knew it wasn’t Tommy's fault so he sunk back down letting his shoulders sag. 

“I just did what I thought was right, sorry if you disagree,” said Tommy. Tommy and Dream made eye contact and Dream smiled at him. Dream smiled at him because he didn’t apologize for letting him go, which meant he didn’t blame himself for Dream getting hurt. Tommy probably still did but that was something he could overcome in the future. The room had stayed quieter after the conversation. They talked between each other until Bad gasped.

“Dream!” yelled Bad, startlinging Dream, “I completely forgot to give something to you!” exclaimed Bad. 

“What is it?” asked a very confused Dream. Bad trotted over to his bag near the entrance of the room and picked it up making his way back over to the group. He stopped next to Dream and pulled out something, handing it to him. Dream recognized it immediately. It was a small leatherback journal with his initials stitched into the front. It was his journal. He thought he had lost it during the battle along with all the images inside. He took it gently out of Bad’s hand and stared at the cover. 

“Me and Tommy found it in your bag, I forgot I packed it.” said Bad with a smile. 

“What is it?” asked Tubbo. Dream undid the little sting at the front keeping it closed and opened it to a random page. He just so happened to open it to the page when they all moved into their giant shared home. They were all in front of the house goofing off as they played a very messed up version of tag. Tommy had tackled Tubbo and was laughing above him while Tubbo laughed on the ground. Wilbur was next to the two laughing at their shenanigans. Techno sat on the stairs of the house with a smile on his face as he watched the group. Bad was running away from Skeppy who had a wicked grin on his face. George was running away from Sapnap while screeching loudly. Dream remembered how high pitched it was and he chuckled at the thought. Dream was clutching his stomach and nearly falling to the ground from laughter. He remembered the day vividly. He smiled fondly at the picture. 

“Dream?” he heard someone ask. He looked up at his friends with a smile. He sniffed and wiped his eyes quickly after getting emotional looking at the photo. 

“Its, uh, like a memory book. Has pictures of some important times,” explained Dream. 

“Oooo can we see?” asked George. Dream nodded and gently passed the book to George. George opened it and laughed. He had opened it to the picture of him and Dream but Dream was a dog. It was after they had gotten back from the nether and they were celebrating their small victory. The group took turns passing the book around and flipping through pages. Dream explained the ones that some of them wouldn’t get. They spent the next hour flipping through all the pages, reliving the fond memories inside of it. At some point Bad and Tubbo went and got food and for the rest of the night they all joked and laughed. Just enjoying each other's presence. It had gotten pretty late so everyone was tired. Some had fallen asleep in the soft grass. The only ones still awake were Techno and surprisingly Dream. Tommy and Tubbo had fallen asleep on Wilbur. Wilbur had his arms wrapped around the twos shoulders. Bad was leaned against a rock with Skeppy laying flat on the ground next to him snoring. George had his arms crossed and his back against a tree. Sapanp was a few inches away laying on his stomach, and his arms under his head. Some drool came from the corner of his mouth. Dream could feel himself getting drowsy. He looked at his friends with a fond smile on his face. 

“Was it worth it, Dream?” asked Techno suddenly. Dream turned his head towards him. 

“What?” he asked. Techno looked at him. Light blue eyes met bright green ones.

“Do you think what you did was worth it?” asked Techno again. Dream looked at him before looking towards his friends again. Their light snores and heavy breathing filled the air. He did everything for them. To keep them safe. To make them happy. To keep them alive. Nothing else mattered but that. Everything was for them. He nearly died for them. He turned towards Techno.

“Yes, it was. I did it to keep them safe. I failed to keep them unharmed but they’re all still here. I wouldn’t be here if it wasn’t for them. Tommy and Bad saved me when they went to find my bag. Sapnap, Wilbur, Skeppy, George, Tubbo, you, you all fought for me when you thought I wouldn’t come back. Getting to see them all here, injured but alive is something I will never forget. I did something horrible, I know that, but if I had to fight to keep my friend’s, no my family alive, I’d do it again. If I had to get hurt again to keep them safe, I'd do it with no hesitation. I know many of them would do the same, Tommy is a good example. He nearly died, took a fatal hit for me. That’s where I failed. A kid his age should never have to worry if their life is going to end. No one here should, it's just that simple. I’d do anything to keep them safe. And that’s something that’s never going to change.” siad Dream sternly. Through the speech Dream turned back towards Techno and looked him in the eyes. He wanted Techno to know he was serious. He wasn’t just saying this. Techno smiled at him.  
“You’re a good man Dream. We’re lucky to have you.” said Techno. He moved to the ground and raised his arm.

“Can I touch you?” he asked. Dream gave a nod of approval since he was still VERY uncomfortable with physical contact after everything. Techno put an arm around his shoulder and Dream leaned into his side.

“I was in a similar situation a few years ago. Someone hurt Phil and Wilbur. Wilbur doesn’t remember what happened very well because of a head injury but Phil remembered it. He helped me through it. What I'm saying is, if you ever feel overwhelmed or panicked you can talk to me. I know what it's like to want to do anything to protect someone. I still get overwhelmed and you will too. I can guarantee that so maybe we can help each other out.” offered Techno. Dream was honestly shocked that Techno was being so open. He was a normally closed off guy. He and Dream weren’t too close either. He smiled. It was honestly comforting to know that someone could relate to what he was going through. 

“I think that’d be nice.” said Dream. Techno hummed in agreement. Dream took one last look at all of his friends. They were all safe and from what he could tell, happy. They’d all have a long road ahead but they’d get through it together. He closed his eyes and rested his head on Techno’s shoulder. (NOT SHIPPING THEM) He closed his eyes, drifting off into sleep with a smile on his face.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There u go! Im going to start working on what im pretty sure is the final chapter of this story and then a oneshot! 
> 
> Thank you all so much for the support and kudos! 
> 
> Love you all so much! ❤️❤️❤️
> 
> Word Count: 1820
> 
> -Ash :)


	24. Final :)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It's the final guys! 
> 
> Sorry its late lol 
> 
> The MCC was on Saturday and then Dream's deal or no deal with tubbo was on Sunday and i had school earlier in the week lol i didn't have a lot of time haha

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's the final guys! 
> 
> I hope you guys enjoy it! 
> 
> I took a different direction with it which was probably risky but I hope you enjoy it nonetheless! :D
> 
> This was my longest chapter yet so be prepared to be here for a little longer than usual!

Dream sighed contently as he brought his mug up to his lips, taking a sip of the warm liquid. It was pretty early, the sun was still down and the sky still had it’s stars. He woke up half an hour ago from a dream he couldn’t remember fully. It wasn’t really a dream, more of a nightmare. He got them a lot, it was just natural to assume he was going to wake up way too early. He watched the sun peak over the mountains, he could see his warm breath in the cold air. The roof was always a nice place to relax after a nightmare. The open space along with just being outside was helpful. He heard the trap door open and he assumed Sapnap realized he’d gotten out of bed. Dream started getting into the habit of sleeping with his friends if he was having trouble sleeping or if he just wanted to. He only slept with Sapnap, very rarely George, Techno or sometimes Tommy. He only slept with Tommy if Tommy was the one having a nightmare which was pretty often. If he wasn’t there to help the boy, Tubbo or Wilbur would. Techno was fairly rare, it was only when Dream was having a nightmare and it was usually a very bad nightmare that would lead to a panic attack. George was by far the rarest. Dream was still uncomfortable with most physical contact. He just got used to George touching him again maybe a week or two ago. Sapnap was the one he went to the most. If he was having a nightmare he’d go to Techno or Sapnap but he also just got into bed with Sap because he wanted to. Sap also had nightmares, he was more open about it than Dream. They all knew Dream got them, sometimes they’d all wake up to screaming and crying and Techno or Sap would have to calm him down. It was hard to watch, many didn’t. Even though it had been a few months since it happened, nightmares were common. Everyone had them. Tommy would have one’s about his friends dying, his worse ones tended to be when Dream died as the boy still felt guilty about Dream nearly getting killed. Sapnap’s were about him dying, George dying, Dream dying. Wilbur, Techno, Skeppy, Bad, Tubbo, George, they all had them. Dream’s were about dying or everyone getting hurt, guilt basically. Those weren’t as bad because once Dream woke up he could usually figure out they aren’t real. The worst one was when he relieved certain points of the duel, like the murder. His worst one, the one he always woke up screaming to was when Slayer had basically tortured him or the moments before Tommy was nearly killed, when the sword cut his face and dug into his side and leg. He felt like he could feel the pain when he woke up, he could feel the sword bury itself in his leg, dragging him back. He could feel all the kicks to his torso. He felt like it was real and it  _ horrified  _ him. He sighed. He could hear the feet of someone approaching.

“Hey Dream,” said Sapnap. Dream hummed in acknowledgement.

“Hey Sap,” replied Dream. Dream was sitting on the ledge of the roof, feet dangling off the front. Sapnap hopped up onto the ledge, careful not to touch Dream. 

“Nightmare?” asked Sap. Dream sighed and nodded. Sapnap noticed his mask sitting next to him. It was rare for Dream to take his mask off even though everyone knew what he looked like. It seemed to take up the role of ‘emotional support object’. Dream smiled.

“Wasn’t too bad though, it was better than normal,” reassured Dream when he saw Sapnap’s sad face. He smiled brightly at his friend, Sap looked at him and smiled in return. 

“You sure you’re good? You could’ve woken me up,” said Sapnap. Dream shrugged. 

“You stayed up pretty late, and it wasn’t bad so I didn’t think it was necessary to wake you up,” responded Dream. He took another sip of his drink and sat the empty mug behind him. The two started to chat about random things, making each other laugh. It was a routine honestly. Whenever someone was struggling they either wanted to talk about it or not talk about it. Dream never really spoke about his nightmares so just making Dream feel better was usually the goal. They learned not to push a while ago. Dream yawned.

“Wonder if the others are gonna get up soon,” said Sapnap. Dream shrugged. 

“Who knows, probably soon though. Tommy can’t help causing chaos in the mornings,” answered Dream. And as if one cue, a loud crash came from downstairs followed by a loud string of curses that sounded like it was from Wilbur or Techno. Dream and Sapnap looked at each other before bursting out laughing. Dream stood up and stretched. He held out his hand to Sapnap who accepted. Dream placed his mask on his face.

“Wonder what they broke,” said Sapnap as the two made their way down the ladder. Dream smirked. 

“Bet 5 diamonds that he broke at least 3 windows,” challenged Dream. Sapnap smirked at him.

“Oh your on, 5 windows,” responded Sapnap. They walked faster running into Bad on their way to the stairs. 

“What’s going on?” asked a tired looking Bad. 

“Tommy and his usual morning chaos it sounds like,” answered Dream. A thud was heard downstairs and this time they could hear Wilbur yelling and Tommy’s boisterous laughing. Bad groaned and grabbed a hoodie off the back of his door. 

“Mind if I join you on the way downstairs? I don’t want to die like last time,” asked Bad. Sapnap and Dream chuckled. A few days ago Bad walked downstairs right when some TNT went off and well, died. 

“Sure Bad, I still wonder why we built this house even further from spawn,” complained Sapnap. 

“We really should’ve built it closer, it’s farther from spawn than our other house was,” said Dream. It was about a week after the duel when they figured out how to set the gamemode to normal. It took about 4 all - nighters from Dream, Techno, George, Tommy and Tubbo. Once they figured out how to do it they destroyed the only way to do it in hopes of preventing another Slayer incident. The house they built was still shared because after the few nights of nightmares from Dream and Tommy they all decided being together was a better idea. Dream liked living all together. It was nice to be this close to his friends, before everything that happened he would’ve gladly moved out and away because of their chaotic natures but now he wanted nothing more than to be near them all. Talk about trauma bringing people close together. The house they made was bigger than their original one. It had plenty of room for everyone. There were 4 floors, Dream, Sapnap and George shared the top floor. Techno, Tommy, Tubbo and Wilbur shared the 3rd floor, and Skeppy and Bad had the 2nd floor all to themselves since it was slightly smaller than the other floors, Tommy’s floor was the largest with the most rooms. The final floor was the common area that they all shared. They reached the stairs and walked down them, Dream and Sapnap were hyper, wanting to see who would win their silly bet. They reached the bottom of the stairs. Tommy had a bunch of sticks and was standing next to Tubbo who also had a bunch of sticks. Wilbur was standing in front of Tommy yelling. Techno was sitting on the couch calmly sipping his drink and reading a book. Skeppy was next to Techno poking his shoulder trying to get his attention. Dream didn’t even see George until he walked into the room towards Dream. 

“God, please do something,” complained George as he walked to his friends. Dream smiled at his friend. 

“BACK OFF BITCH I HAVE STICKS,” yelled Tommy as he waved the rather sharp stick close to WIlbur. Tubbo yelled a small ‘Yeah!‘ Next to the taller boy. 

“TOMMY FOR FUCKS SAKE,” shouted Wilbur. Dream’s group watched the two go back and forth yelling insults and Tommy waving his wooden “stick” in the air. It was a literal spear but whatever. Dream chuckled and walked further into the living room. 

“Good morning Dream,” greeted Techno, eyes still glued to the page of his book. 

“Good morning to you as well, “ responded Dream. 

“How did you sleep?” asked the pig hybrid. Dream shrugged and sat on the other end of the couch. 

“Not that bad but still had one,” answered Dream. The yelling was beginning to escalate much to Dream’s surprise, he didn’t think it could get any louder. 

“Morning Dream!” yelled Skeppy over the yelling. 

“Morning! Can someone shut them up please!” asked Dream. Techno sighed and closed his book. The pig hybrid stood up and made his way over to them. He stopped near them and grabbed Tommy’s sticks out of his hand in one quick swipe.

“Stop. Yelling.” said Techno, voice deep. Tommy and Wilbur looked at him. Wilbur raised his hands in surrender. 

“Yep.” said Wilbur quickly. Tommy crossed his arms.

“Oh come on big man! Why you gotta stop the fun!?” complained Tommy. Techno stared at him with a raised eyebrow before walking away and shoving all the sticks into a chest and sat back down next to Dream. 

“Better?” asked Techno, picking up his book. Dream chuckled.

“Significantly,” said Dream. Tommy huffed and sat down in one of the other chairs. Tubbo had walked away when the yelling got really loud and was sitting next to Dream. Sapnap, Bad and George entered the room.

“God Tommy, can you just wake up and not cause chaos one morning?” asked George. Tommy rolled his eyes.

“Oh fuck off George, I can’t help it that I’m hyper in the mornings,” answered Tommy. Wilbur groaned next.

“Then go outside,” said Wilbur. Tommy only scowled at that and sunk further into his seat and mumbled a few curse words. 

“Dream!” called Sapnap. Dream turned to his friend and was met with an open hand.

“Give, give,” said Sap. 

“Excuse me?” asked Dream but then the memory of their bet came back and his head snapped towards the windows. Much to his dismay 5 windows were broken. 

“Well fuck.” cursed Dream. 

“Language Dream!” scolded Bad. Dream laughed.

“Sorry Bad,” said Dream reaching into his pocket and getting 5 diamonds. He tossed them to Sapnap who cheered when he caught them. 

“Why’d you give him free diamonds?” asked Tubbo. Tommy laughed. 

“Because he always gives out money, have you not seen how much he’s given George.” remarked Tommy. Dream huffed. 

“Oh fuck off Tommy,” said Dream with no real malice. 

“Me and Sap made a bet on how many windows you broke, I said 3, Sap said 5.” answered Dream. 

“You only thought he broke 3 windows?” asked George. Dream rolled his eyes even though no one could see it.

“Well you see, I would’ve thought someone would’ve done something before he even broke one, but guess no one did,” remarked Dream as he looked at WIlbur. 

“Instead we come downstairs and Wilbur and Tommy are in a screaming match,” finished Bad. 

“When is there not a screaming match starting off the day?” added Skeppy. Techno hummed in agreement. George walked in the kitchen before turning around and poking his head out. 

“Yo it’s my cooking day, what does everyone want?” asked George. The whole room erupted with voices all telling him what specific dish they wanted but George put his hand up stopping them. 

“DECIDE ON ONE DISH YOU WILL ALL SHARE!” yelled George. The whole room groaned but they started talking. It took almost half an hour to agree on something because Tommy insisted on having pork despite Techno’s many death threats. They eventually decided on eggs, biscuits and sadly bacon. Techno was now on the couch next to Dream sulking. Dream laughed at his annoyed face and lightly punched his shoulder. 

“Come on, chin up Techno,” said Dream. Tommy laughed loudly. 

“I can’t believe I won an argument against the Blade!” cheered Tommy. Dream stared at him in amusement and had an idea.

“Yeah you may have won a verbal argument but can you beat him in a physical argument?” said Dream. The whole room looked at him, even George poked his head into the room.

“What?” asked Wilbur. He smiled brightly at his friends.

“I think we should go practice combat!” he said excitedly. Dream hadn’t touched or been near a weapon since the incident. Others handled hunting alongside Techno instead of Dream, others fought off mobs while building the house. He was horrified of the objects, of hurting someone with it like he did with Slayer. They also reminded him of everything that happened and well, he wasn’t a big fan of it. No one left their weapons out, they were never just laying on a table or by the door like they used to. Dream hadn’t practiced combat in a while either, not since the fight at least. What the others didn’t know was that Dream kept his diamond axe on the back of his door. He stared at it for hours, trying to get used to it again. A week ago he actually managed to pick it up, swinging it around on the roof. Someone had come onto the roof without him knowing and he accidentally threw it off the roof and into the snowy forest around their house. When the person left he laughed at his own stupidity and paranoia. Techno placed a hand on his shoulder. 

“You sure?’ he asked. Dream turned to him and gave him a confident smile. 

“Hell yeah,” responded Dream. The food was finished not long after the decision was made and they ate and retreated to their rooms to get ready. Dream got slightly annoyed at all the concerned glances he was getting. He knew they were just worried but he couldn’t help but feel offended. He wasn’t weak. Not by a long shot. He can handle picking up an axe and swinging it around. He could do this. That’s what he kept telling himself but he didn’t notice how he was shaking, small tremors going through his body. He walked to his door and put his hand on the knob. He shut it behind him and sunk to the floor, burying his head in his hands. He hated those glances, everyone knew it, they always made him feel so weak. 

“No, Dream. You can do this. You’re not weak,” said Dream. He huffed and stood up. He went to his drawer and pulled out a pair of black tactical cargo pants and laid them on his bed. He removed his mask and long sleeve shirt and went to get another hoodie. On his way to his closet he caught a glimpse of himself. He stopped walking and stared at himself. He had a small scar directly above his hip, another small cut on his shoulder. A dozen smaller scars littered his chest from all the kicks to his torso since Salyer’s boots had metal on the front of them and they cut his skin. His arms had small cut scars on them as well. The one that really had his attention was the massive scar near his side from being stabbed. The sword had gone straight through him, coming out on the other side also leaving a large scar there. There were large scars on his leg to form the cuts Slayer gave him as well. His broken ribs had healed but there would be times where breathing was extremely painful, his lungs felt like they were on fire or sometimes he’d get winded easily if he was laughing too hard or choked on some food. His voice had gotten slightly more raspy after it too. His vocal cords were damaged by Slayer’s death grip on his neck. He shuddered thinking about it. He never talked about his torture, no one even knew about it, and he planned on keeping it that way. The only knowledge they had on it was that Slayer kicked the crap out of him but they didn’t know it had happened at least 10 or 15 times. He reached up and ran his fingers over the scar on his eye. His knuckles were damaged from his relentless tree punching before the battle and his fingertips were also covered in tiny scars from the screws when he escaped the cell. There was a scar on his lip and one fairly large scar on his cheek running down the side of his neck. It was from a gash Slayer had given him during the battle that he didn’t even really remember getting, it was fuzzy at some points. A knock on his door knocked him out of his head. 

“Yes?” he called as he walked over to his closet and pulled out a black sleeve black turtleneck. He pulled it over his torso and threw a lime green hoodie over it. He pulled on the pants next and grabbed his combat boots from the closet.

“You almost done?” he heard George ask. Dream grabbed his fingerless gloves and slipped them onto his hands, covering his scarred knuckles and palms. 

“Yeah, just putting on my shoes! Go ahead! I’ll be downstairs in a few,” he answered. He quickly pulled on his boots and tied the laces. He stood up and stopped in front of his mirror. His blond hair was a little messy so he fixed it with his fingers and took a deep breath, placing the mask on his face. He pulled up the green hood and made his way to his door. He stopped in front of it and stared at his diamond axe. He took a shaky breath and grabbed the handle, removing it from the door. He opened his door and thankfully the hallway was empty because he could tell his breathing was ragged. On his way down the stairs he took deep breaths, willing himself to calm down. It was hard to tell he was even stressed but observant people like Techno and Tommy would pick up on it. They would pity him and he didn’t want that shit. He stopped at the top of the last staircase and secured his axe to the back of the strap going across his chest. He took a final deep breath and walked down the stairs. He walked into a room full of people all looking at him. Anxiety slapped him in the face and he internally cursed at his friends. They were all dressed in warm clothing since it was winter and they built their new house in a snow taiga biome. Dream put his hands into his hoodie pocket and walked towards his friends. 

“We going?” he asked, tired of the silence. Techno nodded and the group followed him to the training grounds. It was nothing special, they just chopped down the trees there to clear out the space. It hadn’t been used in a while so the snow on the ground was undisturbed and to Dream quite pretty. 

“Who’s first?” asked Wilbur. Techno raised his weapon and Dream did everything he could not to flinch, thankfully succeeding. 

“Let’s see how well one of you does against me,” said Techno as he walked to the center of the field. 

“I’ll bite,” said Sapanp. They sat a bed down near the outskirts so dying wouldn’t cause a huge problem. Sapnap joined techno in the field. The others moved to the side, they started chatting amongst each other. Dream wasn’t listening to them, instead he studied the battle. He watched as Sapnap dodged and Techno swung his blade. He watched Sapnap go in for a hit but Techno dodged with ease. Dream predicted Techno was gonna win.

“Yo Dream, who do you think is going to win?” asked Skeppy. 

“Techno, no doubt.” said Dream. 

“Damn, no faith in Sap,” said Wilbur. Dream smiled at him. 

“We all know who the better fighter between the two is, Sap may be good but he’s not on Techno’s level.” answered Dream. Almost as soon as he finished Sapnap appeared out of thin air next to the bed.

“Damn, that was a workout,” said Sapnap as he bent over trying to catch his breath. Drema looked towards Techno who was standing in the field, blood trickling down his blade. He gulped at the sight. Dream saw Tommy stand up and run over to Techno with his weapon. The battle didn’t even last 10 minutes. Tommy huffed when he respawned. Everyone in the group took turns going against Techno, some doing better than others. George and Spanap probably did the best but no one actually won. Dream knew it was his turn and he could hear his ragged breaths. Sapnap placed a hand on his shoulder. 

“You good?” asked his friend. Dream shrugged off the hand and stood up. 

“I’m fine,” answered Dream as he made his way to the middle of the field. Dream was fond on Techno when it came to his recovery. Techno stayed the same as he was before, he didn’t glance at Dream to see if he was okay, he wasn’t cautious when it came to talking to him about nightmares, he didn’t think Dream was fragile like the others did. And he loved it, it made something feel normal even if it was the only thing that was. Techno glanced at him. 

“Finally, some real competition,” said Techno with a smirk. Dream gulped.

“Wouldn’t get too excited Techno, I haven't practiced in like 2 months,” said Dream. Techno shrugged and put his sword in front of him.

“Just because you haven’t been training doesn’t mean you’ve lost your instincts,” stated Techno. Dream smiled nervously at him. Dream ignored his trembling hands and took out his axe. Techno readied his shield and Dream did the same. The air was tense, all talking ceased when Dream had walked onto the field. Dream had thanked himself for learning to read the faces of others because he could tell Techno was planning on attacking first to get the upper hand. Dream closed his eyes and took a deep breath. Dream mentally decided Techno wasn’t going to get the first hit. 

“Ready?” asked Techno. Dream nodded.

“Hell yeah,” said Dream. Techno immediately got ready to attack but Dream was quicker. He dashed towards Techno, surprising the other male. He raised his axe and brought it down on Techno’s shield. A flashback of him attacking Slayer crossed his mind but he ignored it and pulled his axe out of the wood when Techno swung his sword. 

“Haha, I’m going to be completely honest when I say that I didn’t expect that,” said Techno with a smile. Dream chuckled. 

“Figure you wouldn’t, that’s why I did it,” answered Dream. 

“Smart play,” said Teachno as he rushed Dream. Dream ignored the next flashback and dodged the attack and techno’s surprise 2nd attack. The two went back and forth attacking each other, Dream dodging, Techno attacking and then the roles switched. It had been a good 15 minutes already. Dream decided he’d try something. The next time Techno swung his blade Dream grabbed it and twisted the weapon and Techno’s wrist along with it. The man hissed and retracted his hand, letting go of his weapon. Blood slid down Dream’s wrist from his now cut hand. Dream grinned and took the opportunity to strike. Much to his dismay Techno charged towards him despite not being armed. It confused Dream and another flashback crossed his vision. He shook his head and refocused but was a little late because Techno rammed into him full force with his shield, knocking the air out of his lungs. Dream gasped and another memory crossed his vision. He remembered being slammed to the ground by Slayer. He barely let go of his axe but Techno noticed and he attempted to yank the weapon out of Dream’s hand. Dream gripped the handle tightly when he realized what he was doing. Dream kicked Techno’s shin and jumped away from the pig hybrid. Techno didn’t waste any time charging again. Dream was confused as to why he was charging unarmed again. Another flashback came and he stumbled backwards. He clumsily blocked Techno’s impact with his shield, digging his heels into the snow. Techno went behind his back and pulled out a dagger. Dream felt panic spark in him and he immediately separated himself from the other male. Dream felt himself step on something and the next thing he knew he was falling. He landed on his back with a thud, the air in his lungs disappeared. He coughed and rolled onto his side. God he really hated ice. He heard footsteps in the snow and saw Techno standing above him, dagger in hand, as he sputtered and coughed. That painful burning sensation he would get sometimes was starting to kick in because of the cold air. He hated that he was standing over him, it reminded him too much of Slayer. He could feel his body start to shake, tremors running through it. He felt the strong need to run but the lack of air in his lungs kept him from doing so. He pushed himself away from Techno by digging his heels into the ground but he suddenly felt a hand on his back and saw Techno crouched next to him. 

“Deep breaths,” said Techno. Dream looked at the male with wide eyes as he continued coughing. 

“You’re fine,” said Techno. Techno reached behind his back and Dream’s eyes widened thinking he was going to finish him off. 

“Take a sip,” said Techno. He was holding out his water bottle. Dream hacked and took the bottle out of his hands and took small sips, careful to not choke on it. He stopped coughing as the water soothed his burning throat. 

“Fucking hell,” muttered Dream. Techno laughed and stood up offering a hand to Dream. Dream looked up and grabbed it. Techno hoisted him up. 

“You did well considering you haven’t touched a weapon or practiced in 2 months,” complemented Techno. Dream shrugged. 

“I could’ve done better if it wasn’t for that stupid ice,” grumbled Dream. They walked towards their friends. 

“Dream!” yelled George. Dream looked up too see George grinning.

“You did so good! Awesome job!” congratulated George. 

“I had no idea you were going to attack first!” added Tubbo. Dream smiled at them. They all said how good he was and he was eternally grateful that they didn’t mention him dying on the ground after slipping on fucking ICE. Tommy scoffed.

“He wasn’t that good,” said Tommy. Everyone looked at him with faces of annoyance. 

“Yeah, I’d like to see you beat him,” said Wilbur. 

“I probably could!” said Tommy and the group burst out laughing. Dream was wheezing and a few of them were almost on the ground. Even Techno was laughing. Wilbur straightened up and wiped a tear from his eyes. 

“I think that’s enough for today unless Dream actually wants to duel Tommy,” said Wilbur. Dream was still laughing but he shook his head. 

“N-not today, I wanna be merciful to his ego,” remarked Dream. The group erupted again. Tommy yelled a grand total of 12 ‘fuck yous’ throughout the whole thing but even he couldn’t completely hide his laughter. Eventually the group’s laughter died down and they all decided to return home. Dream trailed along the back of the group, watching the wildlife as he walked. 

“You did well Dream, getting over something like this takes time and direct contact with the problem. What you did today was honestly impressive,” said Techno. 

“It really was,” added Wilbur. Dream blushed and rubbed the back of his neck. 

“You guys are acting like I overcame it all,” muttered Dream. Sapnap threw an arm around his shoulders. 

“Baby steps Dream! A few weeks ago you couldn’t even look at a weapon! It’s called progress,” said Sapnap. Dream smiled. 

“I guess so,” said Dream with a smile. They all chatted on the way back until Dream and Tommy got into a heated argument about something stupid. They reached the house and everyone collapsed onto a piece of furniture in the room. Dream sat at one end of the couch, and Sapnap sat in the middle as George sat next to Sap. Techno took one of the individual chairs stating he didn’t want to share with the gremlin earning laughs around the room. Tommy and Tubbo sat on the floor in front of the mini couch Wilbur laid down on and refused to share. Bad and Skeppy took the last two individual seats in the room. Dream enjoyed times like these the most, where everyone was happy. He looked around the room at his smiling friends. Tommy was laughing with a grin. Tubbo smiling brightly at his friend. Wilbur laughing at something stupid the boy said. Sapnap and George were talking to Bad and Skeppy about the cool idea Dream and George had come up with a few days ago. Techno joined into the conversations adding to them with his deadpan humor. Dream cackled loudly at one of his sentences. They stayed like that for a while, just talking to one another. Dream found it calming. He did something he hadn’t done in a while. He reached up and removed his mask. Techno raised an eyebrow at him, along with a few other people who noticed and gave him confused looks. He smiled at them. 

“I just felt like today was a good day,” he said smiling brightly. All of them stared before smiling at him. 

“God that was cheesy,” said Tommy. Dream grabbed a piece of cobble form his inventory and threw it at him, earring a fuck you and a loud, over exaggerated OW in response. He laughed. He knew things were never going to be the same. He would still have nightmares, Tommy would still have nightmares, Sap would too. They’d always be paranoid about leaving the house sometimes. It would never go back to the way it was and that was okay. It was time like these where Dream really questioned if Slayer had won because despite the guilt Dream constantly felt or the fear he’d feel waking up thinking his friends are dead or hugging Tommy as he cried into his shoulder because of a nightmare they still had these moments. These moments where Slayer was forgotten. And it made him so happy. He pulled up his chat and took a screenshot. He’d add it to his book later. He grinned and turned his attention towards them. Everything was okay right now, and that’s all that mattered. If they were happy, he was happy and that's how it'd always be. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There we go! 
> 
> I didn't feel like I had to completely wrap this up in a bow like other story endings bc its not really the ending lol 
> 
> You can think of this as an introduction to the oneshots bc they will mainly be focused on the healing process with some nice family feels and angst! 
> 
> I hope that wasn't a problem and I'm sorry if it was hopefully the oneshots can make up for it if you didn't like the ending to much! :)
> 
> I love you all so much, thank you for sticking around till the end of this and thank you to all the people who are going to stick around for the alternate endings and oneshots :)
> 
> Love you all! 
> 
> -Ash :)
> 
> WORD COUNT: 5165 HOLY SHIT THAT'S MORE THAN I THOUGHT

**Author's Note:**

> Did u like it? No? okay that makes sense.  
> If u did please leave kudos, they really help give me motivation to write and stuff  
> Comments help to!


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